200 child labourers rescued in Hyderabad

In an early morning raid, the Hyderabad Police rescued at least 200 children, some as young as 6-year-old, who were employed as workers at bangles and footwear manufacturing unit in Bhavani Nagar area. The owner of the unit is a well-known local wrestler Yasin Shaikh, who has been arrested. Seven of Yasin’s partners were also taken into custody. A task force led by South Zone Deputy Commissioner V Satyanarayana was conducting a search operation to weed out criminals, loan sharks and anti-social elements hiding in Bhavani Nagar area when they came upon the factory. “Inside were these children packed into two or three rooms. The conditions they were living in are dismal and unhygienic,” an official said. The children were brought from UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa to work in the unit.