The Namakkal police on Tuesday along with Revenue Department officials rescued five bonded labourers working at a borewell laying company in Namakkal for over 18 months. The rescued labourers hail from Chattisgarh and have been working for Sivakumar, owner of Venkatachalapathy Diesel Works (the borewell company), for over 18 months without any salary. At the time of employment, all the men were less than 18 years old.
The men were primarily employed in Namakkal but travelled to other districts like Madurai to lay borewells.
Santlal (19), Balliram (19), Shankar (20), Jailal (19, Rajman (19) will now be sent back to their home in Chhattisgarh. The police are on the lookout for the owner who is absconding.
The five were brought to Namakkal to work for Sivakumar allegedly through a broker. The rescue mission was initiated on a tip-off by Rights Education and Development Centre (READ) NGO, that also assisted in the operation.
A member from READ rescue team told TNM, “They had borrowed Rs 5,000 from the owner as advance at the time of employment but they have not been paid ever since. Now, after being rescued, they will be issued their release certificates following which the company will pay their pending salaries. The manager has promised to do so.”
Earlier in September, the Chennai Police rescued 61 labourers, including 52 minor boys from illegal, forced labour in the city’s jewellery units. They were housed in small units in which they had to work, cook, eat and sleep. According to reports, their work involved different aspects of making jewellery like melting and polishing gold. Preliminary inquiries also reportedly revealed that the families of the boys rescued had borrowed money from the owners of the jewellery making units as advance.