UP Police busts bonded labour racket, 12 freed from captivity

Twelve bonded labourers, including minors, were rescued from a factory in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar on Tuesday, with the workers alleging they had been held captive for months, forced to work up to 20 hours a day, brutally assaulted and made to survive on rotis prepared from cattle feed.

The workers, who were rescued by the UP Police on Tuesday, told the officials that they were lured with promises of jobs, food, accommodation and regular shifts, but were instead kept behind locked gates, under surveillance and without the wages they had been promised.

Police said the labourers bore visible injury marks on their legs, backs and waists, and that a fresh case has now been registered after some of them alleged that a Nepalese worker, Arjun alias Topi, died after torture inside the factory in November last year and that his body was later disposed of in a bag. Supervisor Shiva Tyagi has been arrested, while factory owner Ankit Balyan is absconding.

For months, and in some cases for more than a year, the workers said they lived inside the factory compound under severe restrictions. Many said they had been picked up from railway stations and bus stands with promises of monthly salaries of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000, meals, accommodation and eight-hour duty. Instead, they alleged, their phones and identity papers were taken away, they were denied wages and forced to work almost round the clock.

"We were promised three meals a day, accommodation and an eight-hour duty," Sonu Chauhan of Agra, who had left home six months ago in search of work, told news agency PTI. "From the next day, we were made to work continuously. If we felt sleepy, we were beaten with belts. We were given only three or four rotis in 24 hours. We never saw vegetables or dal. We ate rotis made from bran meant for cattle, with salt and red chilli," he said.

The workers said their day often began before dawn and continued till late at night. Ramu, a resident of Nainital in Uttarakhand, alleged that labourers were made to start work at around 4 am and continue till midnight.

"We got only two or three hours to sleep. Even if someone was sick, there was no leave. We were told we would not leave the place alive," he said. According to the workers, they operated disposable-plate machines, counted finished products, packed them in plastic covers and filled sacks. "There was never a moment when we were allowed to sit idle," one worker said.

Several workers said the factory was set up in a way that made escape extremely difficult. They spoke of high boundary walls, multiple locked gates, CCTV cameras and pitbull dogs inside and outside the premises. "Inside there were cameras, outside there were cameras. There were dogs everywhere. We could not even think of escaping," a rescued worker told investigators.

Labourers also alleged that supervisors beat them with belts, sticks and other objects for slowing down, making mistakes or discussing escape plans. "The dogs were fed better than us. They got milk and meat. We got dry rotis," one labourer said. Police said the workers reported being beaten, stabbed with spears, whipped, bitten by dogs and fed animal fodder.

The fear, the workers said, deepened with stories of people who disappeared. Some told the police that Arjun, also known as Topi, died after torture inside the factory in November last year. Others said they had seen workers being beaten badly. "There was a pistol kept there. Sometimes shots were fired into a wall to scare us. We were told that if we spoke to anyone, we would meet the same fate," a worker alleged.

The workers' families said they had no idea where their relatives were for months. Mahak Singh, who came from Rajasthan after getting a call from the police about his brother Vikram, said the family had been searching for him. "His phone stopped working. We contacted relatives and friends but nobody knew where he was. My mother fell ill due to stress.

When we finally saw him, he looked completely different," he said. A relative of another rescued worker from Bihar said, "We thought something terrible had happened. He had not called for months. Now he is back, but the physical and mental trauma is visible." Family members later met the rescued labourers at the police lines and Titawi police station, with some saying they had already filed missing-person complaints.

Officials said the rescue took place after one worker allegedly escaped through an opening and reached Titawi police station, following which the police and labour department raided the factory and rescued 12 labourers, including minors. All 12 have undergone medical examinations and are receiving treatment, while psychiatric counselling has also been arranged.

Officials said four workers have already been reunited with their families, while efforts are under way to trace the relatives of the others. The labour department is processing assistance under the bonded labour rehabilitation scheme and helping workers who do not have bank accounts to open them. Assistant Labour Commissioner Devesh Singh told PTI that each rescued labourer would be given financial assistance under the scheme.

The case now centres on the allegations of bonded labour, assault and the reported death of Arjun, even as the rescued workers receive treatment and are reunited with their families. Police said a team has been formed to investigate the factory's operations, the treatment of the labourers and the allegations linked to the missing worker's death.

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