Following intervention of the External Affairs Ministry, 20 labourers from Vishnugarh block of Hazaribagh, who had apparently been detained in Malaysia by the local police on July 9 after being caught for not having valid visas, were finally released on Thursday.
All these 20 labourers were part of a group of 45 men hailing from Hazaribagh, Giridih and Bokaro districts of Jharkhand, and had been taken by middlemen last year to work in Malaysia’s Sarawak on behalf of a Chennai-based company for erecting transmission lines.
“All the 20 laboureres have been released from detention and we have been told that the process to bring those stuck in the foreign country has already been started,” said Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla.
Out of 45 labourers who had gone to work with a Chennai based company in Malaysia, 25 had valid visas while the other 20 did not possess valid visas, said the DC.
The local leader who brought the matter into the notice of Hazaribagh DC also asserted that all the detained persons have been released.
“All of them were freed on Thursday itself, their family members confirmed after talking to their men in Malaysia,” said a local JVM leader Chandranath Bhai Patel.
The remaining 25 have visas valid till August 15, but want to come back home at the earliest, as they did not have any work, he said.
Presently, they have been stuck in the city of Kuching, capital of Sarawak state of Malaysia.
As many as 20 labourers hailing from Vishnugarh block in Hazaribagh were reportedly arrested in Malaysia when their visas expired.
According to relatives of these labourers, six fellow colleagues, who are free but scared of their fate in a foreign country, informed them of the development and sent the picture via WhatsApp.
Patel further added that after receiving WhattsApp messages, their relatives approached him in Vishnugarh on Sunday seeking help, who then met Hazaribagh DC on Tuesday requesting him to look into the matter.
The DC further contacted State Home Secretary NN. Pandey and the Indian embassy in Malaysia on Wednesday requesting them to take steps to ensure release of these labourers.
Although they have been released from detention but all of them have to remain in Malaysia for quite some time till their visas are renewed and are paid their due salary which has been not been paid to them for the last four months.
Supervisor Ram lal Mahto said that after being hired by an agency called S G Cables, they went there to work for a transmission laying company called Sinohydro Corporation.
Most of them had gone there in July last year, but a few others also joined them in August. The work continued till February or March but they have not been paid anything for the past four months.
Initially, the company said that things would be sorted out soon, but later, the contractor and the company went into a dispute. As the latter approached the labour court there, they were asked to stop work.
Ram lal claimed that there was no middle man involved in getting the people in touch with the contractor, who is said to have a base in Chennai also. People came to know about it from various sources and got enrolled, he said.
Sensing the seriousness of the matter, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha also got in touch with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, General V K Singh, who assured him that those stuck would return to India soon.