Odisha youths rescued from illegal confinement in Maharashtra reach home

BERHAMPUR: Four youths, who were rescued from confinement at Pune in Maharashtra where they were engaged as bonded labourers, reached Berhampur on Saturday. 

The youths, Aditya Sahu, Badal Biswal, Lingaraj Sahu, Sai Maharana and Chandan Senapati of Berhampur city were lured by an unlicensed labour contractor, Ram Raju of Rajamundhry in Andhra Pradesh and taken to Vijayawada to work in a private company. 

They were assured a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 each along with food and accommodation. However, Raju took them to Siga village within Indapuram police limits of Pune district in Maharashtra from Vijayawada where they were engaged in fishing. 

The youths said they were kept in a small room and tortured. When they protested, the man who had employed them thrashed them. 

Unable to bear the torture, Chandan escaped and reached the city last week. He narrated everything to Berhampur MLA Bikram Panda who immediately apprised SP Pinak Mishra of the matter. 

Mishra contacted his counterpart in Pune who, with the help of local police on Wednesday, rescued the youths and arrested Raju. 

The youths were sent for medical check-up after their arrival in the city on the day.