11 workers forced into bonded labour rescued from sugarcane farm in Beed

Police have rescued 11 workers who were allegedly held captive, assaulted and forced to work without wages on a sugarcane farm in Maharashtra's Beed district, an official said on Friday. Acting on the orders of Beed collector Vivek Johnson, the revenue and police administration rescued the workers, hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, following a raid on a farm in Dharur tehsil on Wednesday, the official said. The accused, Om Chandrakant Solanke, a resident of Aamla village, had brought in 11 labourers for sugarcane harvest in November last year, inspector Mahadev Dhakane of Dindrud police station said. He said the workers hailed from Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district and Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh. The accused allegedly assaulted the workers when they demanded their wages, held them captive and forced them to work continuously under threat to their lives, the official said, adding that the workers' contractor was also allegedly beaten up when he sought payment. The matter came to light when distressed family members of the workers approached the district administration in Lalitpur, and the latter intimated the authorities in Beed, Dhakane said. Based on a complaint filed by one of the rescued workers, a case has been registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, he said, adding that a search is on for the absconding accused.