NUAPADA: Police on Wednesday rescued 29 labourers including minors who were being taken to Sambalpur by a labour ‘sardar’ from Nuapada.
Around 4 am while the police were on patrolling duty under Jonk police limits, they found a pick-up van near Khariar road carrying a large number of people. Suspecting it to be a human trafficking racket, police questioned the driver and found a labour ‘sardar’ in the van.
The ‘sardar’ identified as Bhawani Prasad Mishra (41) of Jamli village under Jonk police limits and driver Narsingha Mirdha (30) of Kandadhap village under Beltukri police limits in Nuapada were arrested. They admitted to have been taking the labourers to Sambalpur from where they were supposed to be sent to Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.
IIC of Jonk police station, Aniruddha Muduli said the 29 labourers included 12 men, 10 women and seven minors. All of them belong to Biromal and Jamli villages.
They were sent back to their villages after preliminary inquiry.The two accused have been forwarded to court.Harassment at the hands of employers in alien lands, notwithstanding, poor people continue to migrate from districts like Nuapada and Balangir in search of work.