The Nabarangpur police and district Labour officials have rescued 12 migrant labourers, including seven girls, while they were being trafficked to Tripura and Chennai on Wednesday.
The police also detained two middlemen, who were accompanying the labourers, and interrogated them in this connection. The rescued labourers are residents of Umarkote and Tentulikhunti blocks of Nabarangpur district and of Kalahandi district, respectively.
Acting on a tipoff on migration of labourers, the police intercepted a bus en route to Visakhapatnam from Umarkote and rescued the labourers and detained the two middlemen. “The labourers were being sent to work in various factories in Tripura and Chennai. Of the five girls, two are minors. We will hand them all over to their parents after necessary formalities,” said Nabarangpur PS Inspector-in-Charge Tariq Ahmed.