65 bonded labourers rescued from railway station

Post News Network

Sambalpur, Dec 30: District labour officials and government railway police (GRP), in a joint raid, rescued 65 bonded labourers, including 22 women and 11 minor boys of Paikamal block of Bargarh district, from Khetrajpur railway station in the wee hours of Tuesday and arrested three middlemen in this connection.

The accused were identified as Rajendra Majhi, Hari Singh Majhi and Nakul Singh Majhi of Saipol village under Jong police limits in Nuapada district. The labourers and the contractors were handed over to the district police administration.

Reports said, a complaint about trafficking of labourers to a brick kiln of Dhanbad in Jharkhand was lodged with district labour officer (DLO) Krushnamohan Rout recently. The DLO, on a tip-off, along with labour inspector Padmanabha Dora and GRP IIC Chintamani Pradhan conducted a raid at railway station and rescued the labourers.

The labourers were sent to Bargarh and Bargarh DLO Suresh Behera sent them to their villages, Sambalpur DLO said Tuesday. While three contractors were arrested, one more is on the run.