A day after migrant labourer Bibek Chinda’s suicide after a brick kiln owner and agent gangraped his wife in Andhra Pradesh, the police have launched surprise raids on bus stops, railway stations and labourer-trafficking prone areas in Balangir district.
During the raid on Tuesday night, the police rescued 50 migrant labourers from Patnagarh before they were taken to Hyderabad to work in brick kilns. The police arrested two middlemen while they were taking the labourers outside the State.Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Patnagarh police station Officer-in-Charge RK Patra raided a place near Dhaunradadar Chhak at Patnagarh on and rescued the 50 labourers, including eight children while the middlemen were taking them to Hyderabad. The labourers belong to the Bargarh and Khaprakhol areas, said Patra.The police arrested middlemen Sadananda Hernna and Parme Bank and slapped charges against them under Sections 420, 374, 34 of IPC, Section 25 of the Inter-State Migrants (Workman) Act 1979 and Section 14 of the Child labour Protection and Rehabilitation Act, said Patra to The Pioneer