Bengaluru: A total of 31 migrant labourers along with their children of Nuapada district were rescued by the Bengaluru police from a brick kiln in Yelahanka area in the city on Saturday.
The migrant labourers, who were kept hostage at the brick kiln in Yelahanka, alleged there were being tortured while daily meals were not provided to them. They were forced to work at a daily wage of Rs 270 and stay in inhuman condition for the last eight months. Their miseries compounded when a labourer’s eight-year-old daughter was forced to work at a payment of Rs 10 per month.
The labourers claimed they were lured by middleman Akabar Jagat and had subsequently left home at Tarapur village under Boden police limits of Nuapada to work in Bengaluru.
Bisikesh Shabar, a rescued migrant labourer, said, “The middleman had promised us a payment of Rs 7,000 per month and given Rs 19,000 in advance. But here the reality is different when we reached here. We were tortured a lot.”
Expressing similar views, Chaitanya Sahu, another rescued labourer, stated, “When anyone of us falls ill, the employer used to take the person to a hospital and give a few medicines. However, once back at the brick kiln, the sick labourerers were forced to work without giving any rest. The employer used to threaten to kill or kidnap his/her child if they protested.”