20 TN bonded labourers freed

Acting on the directive of the National SC/ST Commission, the district administration today freed 20 bonded labourers from Tamil Nadu from a brick kiln at Mailambara in Nilambur. District Collector M. Sivasankar along with SP E.J. Jayaraj and other officials raided the brick kiln and freed the labourers including 16 men, 3 women, a teenager and an infant.

All the workers at the brick kiln, owned by Eranhikulavan Abdu Rahiman, belonged to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. National SC/ST Commission secretary Ramaswamy will reach the district tomorrow to inquire into the issue.

The workers complained that they were illegally detained and were prevented from even talking to outsiders. They said that the employers used to thrash them when they asked for wages. ‘‘We were threatened, beaten up and made to work from 6 am till midnight,’’ said 36-year-old Chandran, hailing from Narangampadi.