Six from NGO booked for ‘holding daily-wage workers captive’ in Coimbatore shelter

Coimbatore district Collector GS Sameeran told indianexpress.com that the NGO had been rescuing destitute and housing them in shelters for the past few years but in this instance, they were found to have violated the guidelines.

“The district social welfare officer would carry out an inquiry into the incident. We swung into action as soon as we came to know about the incident. The officials will examine the details whether the centre was running with proper licence and whether proper training was provided to the volunteers,” he said.

In the video, the inmates of the shelter claimed that they are physically fit daily-wage workers who have families but the NGO held them captive for the past few days. Several of them were found tonsured in the video. They claimed that it was done against their wish and they were beaten up when they questioned the NGO members.

As the video got shared widely, tension prevailed in the area as people from the nearby locality gathered outside the shelter. They damaged the rescue vehicles and raised slogans asking the police to release the people from the shelter. The Coimbatore district police officers held talks with the residents and tried to pacify them.

Coimbatore superintendent of police (SP) V Badrinarayanan said: “The revenue officials also intervened in the incident. There were around 120 people in that shelter out of which 90-95 have returned to their homes and others have been shifted to authorised government care centres. A case was registered against the six accused in connection with the incident and they were produced before the judicial magistrate.”