26 labourers rescued from clutches of traffickers in Odisha

At least 26 labourers were rescued in Odisha's Koraput district when they were allegedly being trafficked to Hyderabad on promise of a better livelihood, officials said. While 14 of them hail from Nabarangpur district, two are from Kalahandi and the rest from the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh, Prasana Kumar Panigrahi, the district labour officer, said.

"Acting on a tip-off, the labourers were rescued from a bus which was apparently on its way to Hyderabad from Umerkote in Nabarangpur. The bus was frisked at Jeypore and all of them rescued," he said. The agent, who was allegedly taking them to Hyderabad, however, fled the spot, but efforts were on to nab him, Panigrahi said.

"We conduct awareness campaigns at panchayat and block levels regularly against illegal labour migration. We urge people to inform the local police station or officials of the labour department before migrating to other places in search of work, but they seldom listen to us," he added..

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