13 Nepalis detained in Madagascar

Thirteen Nepalis have been detained in a house in Madagascar, Africa by an agent who had taken them there with the promise of foreign employment, a news report said.

Brokers had sent them there illegally through India promising a monthly salary of $500. The victims have appealed to the Nepali government to intervene for their safe release.

The agent has locked them up in a rented room in a village and is giving them only one meal a day. They were taken there on a tourist visa, which has already expired. The brokers sent them to Madagascar four months back taking Rs. 200,00-300,000 each, the report said.

Kantipur daily quoted one of the victims Ramesh Rai as saying that brokers Shiva Raj Kandel of Jajarko, Gopal Chandra Shrestha of Hetauda of Uttam Giri of Chitwan and Y B Chhetri of Gorkha have been involved in such scams for quite some time.

Earlier, the brokers had also left 17 workers stranded in the area.

Talking to Nepalnews, deputy secretary at the Foreign Ministry Mahendra Man Gurung informed that they did not have details of the incident so they are
trying to contact the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Egypt to get details.

Those victims are Ganesh Magar, Amrit Gurung and Ajit Gurung of Syanjha, Amrit Gurung and Dhurba of Pokhara, Durga Gurung of Nawalparasi, Rishi Ranabhat of Arghakanchi, Giri Raj Lamichhane of Gorkha, Lekh Nath Neupane and Dipak Maharjan of Kathmandu, Ramesh Rai of Sunsari, Saurav and Mohan of Birjung, the report said. nepalnews.com pb Sep 23 05