31 workers rescued from traffickers in Odisha

Police Sunday rescued 31 workers, including women and children, being transported by traffickers in Odisha to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to work in brick kilns.

The workers belonged to the Boden area of Nuapada district and were being taken in four multi-utility vehicles, labour officer N. Kumura told IANS.

Police intercepted the vehicles in the Khariar area of the same district, about 560 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, when they were on their way to a railway station.

Police detained two traffickers while efforts were on to send the workers to their homes, he said.

Odisha's western districts, including Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada and Bolangir, are considered some of the most economically backward areas in the country.

Every year, thousands of residents migrate in search of jobs and are often exploited by middlemen and labour contractors.

Police and labour department officials rescued 619 migrant workers, including 170 children, from a railway station in the region Thursday during a crackdown launched after a labour contractor and his henchmen brutally tortured two workers a week ago.