Deccan Herald, India
Dec 15 2018
Wrongful detention case: 32 nurses fly to Armenia
Thirty-two nurses who were wrongfully detained by immigration officials and the city police at the Kempegowda International Airport in the early hours of November 27, 2018, left for Armenia to pursue their German language course.
Four nurses flew on December 7, while 28 of them left in one flight on Sunday (November 9) to the University of Traditional Medicine of Armenia (UTMA) from the Kempegowda International airport. Their travel documents and other formalities were facilitated by Tony’s wife Jwala Tony, a resident of Whitefield in Bengaluru.
The nurses were detained at the airport as the authorities suspected that they were being trafficked to Armenia and even arrested the organiser Tony Tom from Mangaluru.
Tom was running an educational consultancy named Hopeson International in Mangaluru. Tony’s kin alleged, his business rival had tipped off two Intelligence Bureau sleuths who in turn took it up with the immigration officials and the airport police to detain them. Though the nurses had all travel documents in place and were authentic, they were not allowed to fly as the authorities suspected a case of human trafficking. The KIA police had even lodged a case of human trafficking and forgery and sent Tony to jail.
Bail for Tony
On Thursday, a local court granted bail for Tony and he was released on Friday. Sources said there is no evidence to establish it was a case of human trafficking, and the police may submit a B-report soon.