BHOPAL: As many as 17 tribals from southwestern Madhya Pradesh, which included five women and seven kids, have been freed from alleged captivity in Dharashiv (Osmanabad) district of Maharashtra, where they were taken by local contractors for sugarcane harvesting-related works.
The 17 Barela tribe people, which included five men, five women and seven kids – all from Burhanpur district of southwestern Madhya Pradesh, were taken four months back by a Jalgaon (Maharashtra) based contractor Devsingh for sugarcane harvesting related works in the sugarcane fields of rich farmer in Gambhirwadi village of Kalamb tehsil of Dharashiv (Osmanabad) district of Maharashtra.
However, the contractor Devsingh left the tribal people of MP in the Dharashiv district and became untraceable. While the contractor fled from Dharashiv, the tribal labourers were stuck there and allegedly not even given proper food. Lack of proper food and other problems prompted the tribals to ask the sugarcane farm owner to pay them their wages so that they could return home to MP.
According to the complaint made to the Burhanpur district administration by a resident of Bambhada village (the village from which the labourers belonged in MP) in January last week, the sugarcane farm owner instead of paying them their promised wages, assaulted and misbehaved with them and snatched away their cell-phones to cut their connectivity with outside world.
Also, the southwestern MP’s tribals were allegedly held captive and forced to work on the farm, without payment of the agreed wages.
Acting on the complaint made to the Burhanpur district administration in southwestern MP, the Burhanpur district police superintendent Devendra Patidar sent a dedicated police team to Osmanabad district in Maharashtra and freed the 17 tribals allegedly held captive there on Tuesday.