Madagascar court jails Nepali brokers

Kathmandu, Oct 18 - The Madagascar Supreme Court has sentenced two Nepali brokers arrested on charges of illegally recruiting Nepali workers to five years in jail.
Shivaraj Kadel and Gopal Chandra Shrestha along with other brokers had lured 13 Nepalis of high-salary jobs in Madagascar, Southern Africa, but left them stranded there, some five months ago.
Slapping the jail term on Monday, the court also ordered Kadel and Shrestha to pay a compensation of US $ 3,500 to each victim within the next ten days, according to Siddi Bahadur Katuwal, the local guardian of the victims.
Operating their business from Mumbai, India, the brokers have been illegally recruiting workers in Madgascar after collecting an amount of Rs.200, 000 to 300,000 from each aspiring worker.
Katuwal said while most of the victims have managed to return to Nepal, three were still stranded.