Hyderabad: Thirty-six bonded labourers, including four child labourers, were rescued by the Nalgonda police in the Devarakonda sub-division on July 22. Police, revenue officials, and the child welfare department, which investigated complaints, also arrested eight people for human trafficking and pushing victims into bonded labour. They were brought from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha and allegedly forced into bonded labour to engage in fishing. Police are on the lookout for four agents who trapped people and sent them into bonded labour.Those arrested include V Jawahar, 40, of Nalgonda; Ramavath Ramesh, 24, of Nalgonda; Mailapalli Shiva, 30, of Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh; K Simachalam, 39, of Anakapalli, Andhra Pradesh; V Visakaha, 26, of Anakapalli, Andhra Pradesh; E Babubji, 45, of Nalgonda; Chapala Thatha Rao, 38, of Nalgonda; and Chapala Bangari, 39, of Nalgonda. Cases were booked against various people in different police stations, including Neredugommu and Gudipally, under various sections.According to the police investigation, Jabbar alias Jawahar, Ramesh, and Shiva contacted their agents Raju and Jagan in Hyderabad, and Lokesh in Vijayawada, to engage migrant workers on the promise that they would be paid Rs 15,000 per month, that there would be only two hours of work, and they would be given free food and also supplied liquor. However, on reaching Mallepalli in Devarakonda, the accused took away their cell phones and took them on two-wheelers to Balanakunta and Vizag colony under Neredugommu police station limits. There, they were made to catch fish and pull out fishing nets. Police said they were only provided food twice a day and would not be paid. “The victims were also physically assaulted,” police said.An agent in Vijayawada, Venkanna, would take a Rs 5,000 commission and send the labourers to work in Nalgonda district. Police are on the lookout for the agents Raju, Jagan, Lokesh, and Venkanna. “We are hopeful of apprehending them soon,” police said.Nalgonda district SP S P Sharath Chandra Pawa, while giving out details on Tuesday, asked the public to reach out to the police for help if they were pushed into bonded labour.
