BENGALURU: A man, who was on the run after he was sentenced to a seven-year jail term for confining 42 people as bonded labourers in his rock quarry, has been arrested.
The accused Krishna Reddy (45) of Malakacherupalli in Bagepalli of Chikballapur district had been absconding since February this year and was nabbed on August 1.
On April 9, 2014, the Civil Judge and JMFC, Bagepalli, sentenced the accused to seven years in jail under various sections of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, IPC and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. The accused had appealed against the decision in the High Court, which upheld the sentence.
According to the police chargesheet, the labourers were not allowed to leave the quarry, their children were not allowed to go to school, and one woman was forced to give birth within the rock quarry itself. Besides, the labourers received far less than the minimum wage.
This case came to light on August 31, 2010, when Bagepalli tahsildar T A Hanumantharaya rescued the labourers.
The labourers, from Nagari village in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, had been working for five years in the quarry.