Brick kiln owner booked for abducting 6 persons to work as bonded labourers

A man was booked for allegedly kidnapping and confining people to force them to work in his brick kiln in Bhiwandi in Thane district, a police official said on Monday.

Ashok Lokhande, a resident of Kalyan, was booked for kidnapping, trafficking as well as offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act on the complaint of some labourers from Pacchapur in Bhiwandi, said Inspector BR Kumbhar of Padgha police station.

''Lokhande subjected them to ill-treatment when they worked at his kiln for several months. He was not paying them as per contract or in time. They returned to their village on February 1 but Lokhande used force and took six of them back to the kiln,'' he said.

Villagers along with NGO Shramjivi Sanghatana alerted police and efforts are on to nab Lokhande, he added.