Thirty-four bonded labourers, employed in a sugar cane field, were rescued by a team of revenue and police officials in Pudukottai district on Tuesday.
The rescued labourers, including 11 women and seven children, all belonging to the Irula community from Villupuram district — were brought to the office of the Revenue Divisional Officer at Pudukottai.
Acting on a tip-off, a team headed by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Pudukottai, with assistance from the local police went to Keezhathur village in Alangudi taluk and rescued the bonded labourers.
Official sources told The Hindu that the labourers were engaged by an agent called Kumar, who reportedly took them to various places across districts to cut sugar cane.
A senior official said the labourers could have been staying in Pudukottai district for some time now as they gave different versions with respect to the duration of their stay here.
“The labourers were not provided with wages and had no accommodation. They did not prepare food as it was supplied to them from outside. All these lead us to the conclusion that they were bonded labourers,” said a senior official.
The labourers were reportedly asked to be prepared to move to another place when the information about their bondage was shared with officials, leading to their rescue.
The whereabouts of the agent was not known as he is reportedly absconding. Further inquiry would be carried out by the Labour Department, said the official. The Villupuram district administration too would be kept informed about the rescue of the labourers as they hailed from that district.
Upon hearing from the district authorities, the rescued labourers would be sent to Villupuram with police escort, the official said.
