26 'captive' labourers rescued from Patuakhali brick kiln
Police rescued 26 labourers including three women, who had been forced to work hard under captivity for weeks, from CBC Brickfield in Bamna upazila under Barguna district yesterday. Photo: STAR
Police rescued 26 brick kiln labourers, including three women, from captivity in Bamna upazila under Barguna district early Wednesday. They were allegedly locked in the room of a house for several days by the musclemen of the owners at CBC Brickfield. The law enforcers also arrested three people-- Yunus Ali Khan, 45, Munsur Ali Mridha, 35 and Moshref Hossain, 30, manager and staffs of the brickfield--in this connection. Azam Khan Faruqee, officer in-charge of Bamna police station, said on secret information, they raided the brickfield at Chalabhanga village in Bamna upazila and rescued the 26 from captivity. A rescued labourer filed a case with the PS accusing 11 people, including Manzurul Ahsan Monju and Kamrul Hasan Babul, both owners of the brick kiln. Another victim Golam Hossain Gazi said, Rafiqul Islam of Bondhonkathee village under Kaliganj upazila, a labour leader at the brickfield, hired them from different villages on the basis of six months contact on October 1, 2011. “At first the authorities paid us regularly”, he said, adding that the owners refused to pay them from February 29 this year as Rafiqul fled the brick kiln after receiving their all wages in advance". Following the incident, the musclemen of the owners locked them forcibly in the room. "We were given little food and forced to work round the clock, said Golam.
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