Kalyan-based brick kiln owner, aide held for kidnapping bonded worker

A Kalyanbased brick kiln owner and his accomplice have been arrested for kidnapping and assaulting a 28yearold bonded labourer The case was registered at the Wada police station in Palghar district on Wednesday night and the duo Sachin Patil and Manohar Bhagwan Hilim were subsequently placed under arrest This is the third FIR registered under the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act in the district in NovemberThe incident took place in the middle of the night of November 27 when the victim Pintya Sawar and his wife Sangeeta 22 were sleeping inside their hut in Wada talukarsquos Jambhulpada village Patil and his a few accomplices allegedly entered their shanty abducted Pintya bundled him into their car and drove to Kalyan in Thane districtWifersquos prompt actionsSangeeta contacted her relatives in Bhiwandi where she came in contact with a few social activists who helped her register an FIR at Wada police station In her statement to the police Sangeeta said ldquoWe would work at a brick kiln owned by Sachin Patil who would give us a weekly wage to run our household After the brickmaking season was over we calculated the amount remunerated and my husband revealed that he had taken an advance of Rs 9000 in 2019rdquoThe accused centre Sachin Patil a Kalyanbased brick kiln owner and right his accomplice Manohar Bhagwan Hilim PicsHanif PatelldquoDuring Dussehra Patil and others had come to our house and forcibly took Pintya in their car to work for him Before Diwali my husband wanted to come back home but Patil was not sending him back So my husband somehow ran away from Kalyan and reunited with us to celebrate the festival of lightsrdquo the statement read The Sawar family went to Bhiwandi in search of work after Diwali ldquoWe had spent eight days there and then came back to Jambhulpada on November 27 to get rationsrdquo Sangeeta said in her statementlsquoThey forced open main doorrsquoldquoAfter having dinner on November 27 we were sleeping when Patil and his accomplices forced open the main door and entered my house After grabbing Pintya the brick kiln owner told him lsquoYou have taken advance from me how can you not come to workrsquo and then took him away in his carrdquo added Sangeeta The social activist told midday that after Diwali was over Patil and his accomplices would visit Jambhulpada in search of Pintya ldquoBut would always return emptyhanded as the Sawar family had already left for Bhiwandirdquo said social activist Bharat Patil who helped Sangeeta approach the policePintya Sawar who was abducted by the trio on November 27 right Sangeeta Sawar the victimrsquos wife who approached the Wada policeldquoAfter we approached the Wada police the onduty officer immediately called Patil and asked if he had abducted Pintya The brick kiln owner then owned up and the officer asked him to return the labourer to the village and report to the Wada police station immediatelyrdquo he said ldquoOn Wednesday night Patil brought Pintya back and reached Wada police stationrdquo he addedCop SpeakBalasaheb Patil superintendent of police Palghar said ldquoWe have registered an FIR under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Bonded Labour System Abolition Act and arrested two accused in this case Investigations are underwayrdquoAsked what the accused had to say during their interrogation Patil said ldquoMostly they confessed subdivisional police officer SDPO of Jawhar division Shailesh Kale said ldquoPintya was given advance of Rs 9000 by Patil The latterrsquos brick kiln was shut during the pandemic and Patil needed workers Hence he forced Pintya to work at the kiln Though he worked there for a few days after Dussehra he returned home before Diwali When the victim did not report to work after the festival Patil reached his village and the offence took placerdquoldquoThree people committed the offence Patil and Hilim were produced before a court that remanded them in twoday police custody The hunt is on to trace the third accusedrdquo he addedPast instancesmidday has been highlighting the pathetic conditions of tribals in Maharashtra On November 5 19yearold Sainath Tumbda registered a case at Manor police station after he was held captive for 53 hours in Karmala taluka in Solapur where he was allegedly subjected to physical assault and torture while being forced to work in a sugarcane field to harvest the cash crop in lieu of his Rs 5000 advanceLater that month a case was registered at Wada police station in connection with the caning of a labourer who had gone to work in the field of a landlordrsquos rival to earn some money for Diwali In July a 28yearold tribal woman bonded labourer a native of Raigad district was allegedly gangraped by her employers in Satara district where she had gone to work in a charcoal manufacturing plant along with her children and husband The accused had tied the hands and legs of her husband while allegedly committing the offenceNov 27Day the abduction occurred