Title - Seven boys among nine rescued

Personnel of the Department of Labour and the Government Railway Police jointly rescued seven boys and two adults from the clutches of a mason, who was allegedly taking them to Chennai to employ them in construction activity as bonded labourers.

Pandi Srinu of Kaikaluru in Krishna district was allegedly taking the nine persons by train. When the train was on a platform in Vijayawada, Assistant Commissioner of Labour D. Anjaneya Reddy, GRP Deputy Superintendent of Police D.N. Mahesh, and Circle Inspector K. Chiranjeevi, acting on a tip-off, took them into custody. Pandi Srinu, however, escaped, the police said.

The boys, all aged below 15, hailed from the ST Colony in Kankipadu. They were being taken to Chennai to be employed there as construction workers, the Labour Department officials said. Cases had been registered against Srinu and the victims shifted to a rescue home.