Police rescue 94 labourers in Gujarat

Gujarat Police on Saturday rescued 94 bonded labourers including 12 minors from a Chemical factory in Kathwada area from Ahmedabad.

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Police rescue 94 labourers in Gujarat
Brought from various states, these men were being made to work as slaves at the chemical factory in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat Police on Saturday rescued 94 bonded labourers including 12 minors from a Chemical factory in Kathwada area from Ahmedabad. The owners of the factory are currently being interrogated by the police.

The police had received information on Friday night about people being held as bonded labourers in a chemical factory in Kathwada area. Officials say that at least 12 of those rescued, are minors. Brought from various states in the north, these men were being made to work as slaves at the chemical factory in Ahmedabad's Kathwada area. Most of the labourers are from the northeast and some from West Bengal.

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The operation was carried out by officials of Nikol police station acting on a tip-off that Bharvad, who is a labour contractor by occupation, had forcefully employed some child labourers from outside Gujarat. Several police teams were dispatched to the spot in order to check on the tip. Upon their arrival, the personnel interacted with the labourers employed at the chemical factory.

The labourers, in turn, told the cops that they had not been paid their due wages in months. DCP (Zone V) Akshayraj Makwana said, initially it was assumed that there were close to 30 labourers at the chemical factory but it was shocking to find out that there were nearly a hundred men who were being forced to work at the factory without being paid and not allowed to leave.

Makwana added "During the investigation, it was revealed that labourers belong to Assam and Nagaland and they were brought to Ahmedabad by the Bharwad on the pretext of giving them a contract job for three months and 10,000 salary." "However, on reaching Ahmedabad, they were forced to work in a factory called GSP Corp Pvt Ltd and were not paid for their work", he added.