KATHMANDU: Foreign employment recruiters have closed their services from today, protesting what they argued an arbitrary arrest of foreign employment entrepreneurs.

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies said that it decided to close the recruitment agencies' offices from today for an indefinite time in protest against its unnecessary interference in the business of recruitment (manpower) agencies.

The Association organised a sit-in programme in Tahachal in front of the Shramgram and stopped the labourers to take work permit from the Department of Labour.

Gurung added that police arbitrarily raided the manpower agencies and tortured the entrepreneurs with no cause. However, police have claimed that they raided the offices of the agencies as some of them were found involved in human trafficking and illegal transactions.

Police have claimed that they were taking action against the agencies indulged in irregularities by confining to their jurisdiction.

It may be noted that the police few days ago raided some offices of manpower agencies and arrested their operators on the charge of getting involved in irregularities.