Hassan: In what is likely to be remembered more for its humane side than as a case that proved the cops’ mettle, Hassan district police on Sunday night rescued as many as 52 migrant bonded labourers who were put to work on a farm and had been confined to Savanthahalli were rescued. Those rescued had been brought to the plantation in Dudda hobli, and been forced to work in extremely poor conditions. The rescued labourers were subsequently housed in a school nearby on Monday morning.The plight of the labourers came to light after one labourer, 50, a native of Chikkamagaluru went missing from his home. His son initially filed a complaint in Chikkamagaluru,before lodging one at the Banavara police station, where he had relatives, seeking assistance in tracing his father. While the cops went on the 50-year-old man’s trail, the son started searching for his father in parallel. At Arasikere junction, a few miscreants allegedly tried capturing him, but he evaded them and lodged a complaint at the Dudda police station.Acting on this information, a team of police officers led by superintendent of police (SP) Prakash Gowda raided the plantation in Savanthahalli around 10pm on Sunday. While 32 men and 16 women were forced into labour, cops also found four children, belonging to some of these labourers in the sheds.Police said that the plantation was owned by Krishnegowda, a resident of Bengaluru, who had leased it out to Mounesh aka Murali. Along with his associates Basvaraj, Pradeep and Nagraj, Mounesh allegedly lured those looking for jobs across the state on the promise of high wages, but turning them into bonded labourers later.Police said that some of the people in the plantation had been working as bonded labourers for the past three or four years. Those running the farm allegedly restricted the movement of the labourers inside the farm, and housed them in temporary sheds, besides subjecting them to torture . “The labourers were also taken to other farms in Nittur, Gandasi, Chikkamagaluru and Sakleshpura, where they were made to plough, plant, harvest and spray pesticides,” police said.One of the rescued labourers, Vijay, a native of Chikkamagaluru, explained how the accused trapped helpless individuals such as himself. “They wait near the Arasikere Railway Junction, and approach daily wage labourers like myself, promising us wages of up to Rs 500 per day and three free meals for loading tomatoes on to trucks. Once we are hauled into vehicles, we are brought to the plantation and confined here,” Vijay said.Recalling the harrowing ordeal, another victim Ramesh said that the labourers would be beaten with iron rods when they demanded wages. Ratnamma, a native of Haveri district, said that the children, all of whom were aged below 12 were fed once in the morning. “I returned to the shed only at 9pm, when I would cook their dinner and feed them. They would be given nothing in the interim period,” said Ratnamma.The rescued labourers are being housed at the Morarji Desai School in MD Hosur. “They will be sent back to their respective homes after a medical checkup camp is held under the supervision of officials of the public works department,” police said.SP Gowda said that they had arrested Mounesh, and seized five of his vehicles including a tractor and bike. “We are also looking for the others involved in the crime, who eluded us when we carried out the raid,” said Gowda.- (By Darshan BH)

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