NIZAMABAD: Families of five migrant workers from Telangana on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to provide legal assistance for the release of their kin lodged at a jail in Bahrain.
The five — Nikidi Limbadry (Nizamabad-Dichpally), Karrolla Laxmi Narasimham (Nizamabad-Mallaram), Thimmajada Santhosh (Nizamabad-Thirmanpally), Govind Rakesh (Jagtial-Ratnapur) and Bantu Babu (Rajanna Siricilla-Kondapur) — were among 19 persons sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a Bahrain court in a food safety case. They were accused of changing expiry labels on food items at the behest of their company’s management.
The families met Nizamabad Rural MLA R Bhupathi Reddy, who advised them to submit a joint representation in the Pravasi Prajavani programme at Praja Bhavan. Accordingly, the families — including mothers of four of the men and a sister — visited Hyderabad and presented their plea.
They were assisted by State NRI Advisory Committee chairman Dr B Vinod Kumar and vice-chairman Manda Bheem Reddy, who took them to Prajavani Nodal Officer Divya Devarajan. She briefed the chief minister and Principal Chief Secretary V Sheshadri on the matter.
The families said the workers were forced by the company to relabel expired food products without realising the legal consequences, and that they are now suffering for following orders. They urged both the state and Union governments to coordinate with the Indian Embassy in Bahrain to provide legal aid and seek their release. Telangana social workers in Bahrain, they said, have also extended support through Embassy representative Kotagiri Naveen.