Lucknow: As many as 40 bonded labourers, including children and women, were freed from a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh`s Bhimnagar district, police said on Saturday. The bonded labourers, including 10 women, and 12 children, were rescued late on Friday from the brick kiln in Hayatnagar town following a joint operation by district authorities, labour department and police.
"Majority of the labourers freed are natives of western regions of Uttar Pradesh. After giving some advance money, the brick kiln owners managed to bring them at the site around two months ago," police inspector Anil Mishra told reporters in Bhimnagar, some 300 km from Lucknow. "The labourers were held hostage and forced to work without any labour charges," he added.
According to police, the contractors at the brick kiln and its owners managed to escape during the raid. IANS