Thiruvananthapuram: Dozens of nurses from Kerala, working in different parts of Yemen, breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday when they began the journey back home from the strife-hit nation.

Back in Kerala, however, dozens of their peers have been caught in a different crisis, with a recruitment agency accused of duping several of them to the tune of nearly two million rupees each.

In a shocking revelation, hundreds of nurses from the state, who were expected to pay a mere Rs19,500 (Dh1,149) as approved agency commission for nursing jobs in Kuwait were conned into paying Rs1.95 million (Dh114,948) each by the recruiting agency.

Curiously, the Protector of Immigrants (PoE) is accused of playing a role in the incident. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the matter, has filed a first information report against the PoE, L. Adolfus.

The other accused is the manpower recruiting agency, Al Zarafa Travel and Manpower Consultants, which has offices in Kochi and other parts of the country.

CBI officials searched the office of the PoE at Kochi, his residence in Kollam and the residence of the recruitment agency’s proprietor, Uthup Varghese in Puthupally.

Varghese is believed to be in the Gulf at present.

Officials are investigating whether there was collusion between the PoE, who is expected to ensure the safe passage and stay of Indian nationals in other countries, and the recruitment agency owner.

The manpower agency had a contract to recruit 1,200 nurses for Kuwait and it is believed that a few hundred of the recruits, who were from Kerala, were charged a hundred times the prescribed agency fees of Rs19,500. The entire scam is believed to have been in the range of over Rs1 billion, assuming not all 1,200 were recruited.

Local reports indicate that the recruiting agency also took a written statement from the nurses that they had only paid Rs19,500 as agency commission, and failed to give receipts for the money paid.

The entire scam came to light after one of the nurses wrote to the PoE about the huge commission demanded by the agency. The PoE is accused of having dismissed the complaint.

However, once officials got wind of the alleged scam, an investigation was launched which has now shed light on the exploitation in recruiting nurses from the state. The first information report has been filed in the CBI court in Kochi.