KASARGOD: The Karnataka Police on Saturday handed over a 35-year-old Kasaragod native who was rescued from a ginger farm where he was forced into bonded labour. Udayakumar of Puthige was among the 18 workers who were rescued in a joint raid conducted by Karnataka Police and the revenue department at Chatnahalli near Halebidu in Hassan district in February.
The joint raid was ordered by the authorities after one of the workers managed to escape from the farm and informed his family. The worker’s mother decided to lodge a police complaint, based on which Hassan district Additional Superintendent of Police M Thammaiah led the operation and rescued the remaining 17 labourers from a shed in the farm.
The police arrested two farm owners who used to pick the labourers from the railway stations. They used to promise these workers decent wages but locked them up once they reached the farm.
They were forced to work in the farm without any wages under severe surveillance. A case been registered under sections of BNS and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.
Addressing the media, Udayakumar said that they would be released early in the morning and transported to the farm on a truck. “We were locked up in a shed after work and were given only rice and curry as food. We always lived in fear. They didn’t even provide medical facilities for the workers,” he said. After the raid, the Karnataka labour department had been processing the Bonded Labour Free certificates for the rescued individuals.
On Saturday afternoon, Udayakumar was formally handed over to the Kasaragod district administration in the presence of representatives from the Karnataka revenue, labour, and police departments. The district administration has initiated steps to provide him with necessary support and protection.