A section of persons who were allegedly rescued by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Coimbatore city police and various non-governmental organisations from the streets of Coimbatore accused the rescuers of forcibly keeping them in a shelter near Thondamuthur.
Some of them claimed that they have been working as construction workers and the police and volunteers of NGOs forcibly removed from streets, treating them as destitutes and alms-seekers.
In a video that was widely shared, a man who was allegedly taken by the AHTU and the NGOs to the shelter claimed that he was working as a machine operator at a printing unit at Gandhipuram. He alleged that the rescue team forcibly took him to the shelter.
Many others alleged that they were doing various odd jobs and expressed their discomfort over forcibly tonsuring their heads. A few alleged that they were beaten up while being removed from streets.
Tension prevailed in front of the shelter at Attukal near Thondamuthur as people from the locality and members of an organisation camped at the place. They pushed down a rescue vehicle and demanded the release of those who were brought to the shelter.
Senior police officers from the Coimbatore District Police held talks with the protestors and informed them that the NGOs had received necessary permission from the district authorities to rescue destitute and homeless persons from streets.
Coimbatore Rural Superintendent of Police V. Badrinarayanan held talks with the protesters and assured them of proper action, if there were any violations at the shelter.
City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan said that he directed the inspector of AHTU to talk to each person at the shelter home and find out if anyone was taken to the place by force. “An Assistant Commissioner of Police will inquire into the issue”, he said.
“The concern of the police and the NGOs was that nobody should suffer on the streets,” he said.
Sources in the Revenue Department said that the rescued persons were sheltered in an unused building. The department would check whether the NGOs had licence to shelter people there, they said.
