11 migrant workers & 4 minors rescued from alleged bonded labour in Beed

Chhatrapati Sambhajingar: Eleven migrant workers and four minors were rescued from an alleged bonded labour facility at a sugar cane farm in Dharur tehsil of Beed district earlier this week following a joint operation by the police and revenue officials.Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat said coordinated action ensured the swift rescue. "As soon as we received inputs, our teams moved in coordination with the revenue department. The workers were rescued and legal action was initiated. We are making all efforts to trace and arrest the accused," he said.Police said the suspects fled before the raid, and search operations were under way. The rescued workers are currently under the district administration's care, and arrangements are being made to send them back to their native places.According to Beed revenue officials, the operation was launched on Wednesday after district collector Vivek Johnson received a communication from authorities in Uttar Pradesh about the workers' alleged illegal confinement and non-payment of wages. "The workers, hailing from Lalitpur district in Uttar Pradesh and Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh, had arrived in Beed for sugar cane harvesting last Nov. We have rescued 11 workers and four minors," he said.The police said the farm owner of Aamla village had engaged the workers for cutting sugar cane but allegedly withheld their wages. "When the workers demanded payment, they were assaulted, threatened and prevented from leaving. The contractor who brought them to the farm was also assaulted when he raised the issue of pending wages," an officer said.The case surfaced after family members of some workers approached officials in Lalitpur, reporting that they had lost contact with the workers and feared they were being held captive. The information was passed on to the Beed authorities, prompting the collector to order immediate action.A joint team of police and revenue officials raided the farm and freed the workers. One of the rescued labourers later lodged a complaint at Dindrud police station.Based on the complaint, police registered an FIR against Solanke under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.