The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing a nurses recruitment scam, is learnt to be seeking the help of Interpol to trace the owner of the recruitment agency which allegedly swindled nurses recruited for the Kuwait Health Ministry of more than ₹100 crore.

Uthup Verghese, who owned the Kochi-based Al Zarafa Travel and Manpower Consultants Pvt Ltd, reportedly left India after the recruitment fraud surfaced and his firm was raided by several agencies, including the Income Tax Department. The CBI, which had served notice on him to show up for questioning, could not find him. It also issued a ‘look-out’ notice against him. Verghese was reportedly spotted in Kuwait and some nurses he had recruited complained that he was coercing them to pay up the remainder of the fee he had demanded.

Verghese had a deal with the Kuwait Health Ministry for recruiting 1,200 nurses from India. According to government norms, each selected nurse had to pay a service charge of ₹19,500 to the agency. However, Verghese allegedly demanded and collected ₹19.5 lakhs from 435 nurses. He had allegedly fleeced the recruits in the previous years.

Main accused The Protector of Emigrants in the Union Ministry of Labour at Kochi, L Adolphus, who had allegedly abused his position to help Verghese to fleece the nurses, is the first accused in the case.

A couple of days ago, the Ernakulam sessions court denied anticipatory bail to Adolphus. The CBI, opposing bail, said Adolphus, might tamper with the evidence. The CBI raided the office and home of Adolphus.

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