The Odisha police rescued 19 labourers of the district from Nagpur in Maharashtra while they were being trafficked to a brick kiln in Telangana.
The alleged trafficker identified as one Ricksha Muduli was arrested in this connection.
The victims, accompanied by a team of Odisha police reached Balangir on Thursday and lodged a case against the trafficker at the Lathor police station in the district.
Those rescued include nine men, seven women and three children, all residents of Harishankarpur area of the district.
Earlier on Tuesday, acting on a tipoff, the Northern Range DIG coordinated with the GRP in Maharashtra to arrest Muduli at Nagpur railway station where he along with the labourers were waiting to board a train to Telangana.
As per the information, the victims had borrowed Rs 10,000 each from Muduli ahead of Dussehra and had agreed to accompany him to the work place after the festival.
Later, the labourers came to know that the particular brick klin owner at Telengana, was notorious for ill-treating labourers. Scared, they decided to return the borrowed amount to Muduli but he refused. “He told us that he would let us go only if we return him Rs 30,000 each and no less,” said one of the victims on condition of anonymity.
On Monday night, a few men had asked them to gather at one place in Harishankarpur and later locked them up to prevent them from escaping.
Early next morning, the victims were forced to board a train to Nagpur from where they intended to board a different train to Telangana. It was at Nagpur that the raid was conducted, and the victims rescued.