Wellington, July 21 : The Labour Department’s immigration service has spoken to half of the Indian pilgrims who went missing in New Zealand while en route to World Youth Day in Sydney.

It was originally believed 39 Indian pilgrims had gone missing, but the number increased to 40 on Friday when it was discovered that a man travelling alone had not left New Zealand when scheduled.

The 40 were from a group of 220 pilgrims visiting New Zealand before attending World Youth Day.

Wellington - A group of Indians who disappeared in New Zealand while reportedly on their way to Australia to see the Pope began going home on Sunday, news reports said. 

About 40 young Indian men who joined a Catholic pilgrimage to the World Youth Day festival in Sydney that was scheduled for a week-long transit stop in Auckland, paid immigration fraudsters in Delhi half a million rupees believing that they were buying permanent residence in New Zealand. 

The men, mainly from the Punjab region, abandoned their Catholic family hosts as soon as they realized they had been taken for a ride and went to ground after failing to check in for their scheduled flights to Sydney on Tuesday. 

Wellington, July 17: Three of the 35 Indian pilgrims who went missing, will meet immigration officials today to provide information about the alleged scam that brought them to New Zealand.

Wellington - Three Indian men who disappeared in New Zealand while on the way to Australia to see the Pope have agreed to tell all about the swindlers who tricked them into believing they would be

Wellington - New Zealand's Commerce Commission filed criminal charges against three airlines for failing to cooperate in an inquiry into air-cargo price-fixing allegations and other anti-competiti

Wellington - A takeover bid for the Wellington electricity network by Hong Kong's Cheung Kong group was formally approved Wednesday by the New Zealand government.