BENGALURU: The Anti-human Trafficking Unit of CID rescued 118 bonded labourers, including 37 minors from a brick factory in Devanahalli on Sunday.
All the rescued bonded labourers hail from Odisha and were working there for six months. Around 150 labourers were brought to Bengaluru via a human trafficking network.
Police sources said the owner had approached a trafficker, who is from Odisha, to get human resources at a cheap rate.
The trafficker brought the workers, promising them good salary and accommodation. However, the labourers were forced to work for 14 to 16 hours a day and got a meagre payment of `350 per week initially. Later, they were given money only once in a while. The owner provided them meals twice a day.
Whoever asked for money and objected to work were beaten up and threatened with dire consequences. They were not given any holidays and were forced to stay in small temporary sheds. The minors carried sand used for making bricks.
Some of the labourers, however, managed to escape and approached the police. A case was registered against the factory owner, who is absconding.
“We are collecting information about the traffickers involved. The labourers said that traffickers had made a huge amount of cash in terms of commission by exploiting the poor people,” sources added.
The labourers did not dare to escape for long as they were afraid the owner might harm their family members.