A misjudgement on the part of immigration officials led to wrongful detention of 32 nurses bound for Armenia for study purpose, Deccan Herald reported.

The women from Kerala said they were held at the Kempegowda International Airport in pitiful conditions with no access to washroom.

The nurses and their organiser, Tony Tom, underwent an ordeal at the hands of immigration officials as well as the Bengaluru Police, who registered an FIR — declaring that the 32 women were being trafficked — without verifying facts.

They were detained on suspicion that they were being trafficked to Armenia. Tom, along with the nurses, were held till 11 am on Tuesday at the airport. The authorities concluded that it was a case of human trafficking and alerted the BIAL police. Ravishankar, immigration officer, Bureau of Immigration, filed a complaint and handed over Tom to them. 

One of the nurses told DH that they were treated badly during the 11-hour stay with immigration officials. “They did not even allow us to go to washroom. On Tuesday morning, we were hungry and they neither arranged breakfast nor allowed us to buy,” the victim said.