As many as 273 persons from Odisha employed as bonded labourers in a brick kiln in Tiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu were rescued on Tuesday.
The labourers, belonging to 98 families, were rescued during the raids led by Revenue Divisional Officer R Abirami and conducted since Monday night in coordination with an NGO after a tip-off, officials said.
The victims were natives of the districts Nuapada, Balangir, Nabarangpur and Bargarh of Odisha and had been brought to the brick kiln by an agent on the false promise that they would get a decent wage.
But they were paid only Rs 300 a week whereas the Tamil Nadu Government has determined a minimum wage of Rs 136 per day, according to Mathew Joji of the NGO International Justice Mission.
The rescued workers were sent to their native places by train on Tuesday night. Official sources said further investigation was on to arrest the owner of the brick kiln.
Bonded labour is a human rights violation and against the Bonded labour Abolition Act (BlA), 1976.