HYDERABAD, Nov 8: A sessions and an additional district judge on Saturday released a total of 124 brick kiln workers when they were produced by police under court directives following a number of identical applications filed against kiln owners, accusing them of keeping people in bondage.

The court ordered police not to harass them and rather provide them protection.

In the first application filed by Pancho Bheel filed against Haji Zareef Khan, Haji Rehman and Saeed Khan Pathan and SHO of Hatri police station, he stated that 77 workers including his relatives and family members were kept in bondage and kiln owners were not paying them their share in earnings.

He said that they had restricted their movement and deployed gunmen at the kilns to stand guard over them. The court directed police to produce the detainees and they recovered them after raid on the said kiln.

In the second application, Reshama Bibi against kiln owners Jaffar Khan Pathan, Maulana Shahbaz Khan, Deen Mohammad Punjabi and Mohammad Siddique Punjabi, seeking recovery of her husband Mohammad Yusuf, Liaquat, daughters Haneefa, Sobia and Fauzia.

She alleged that the kiln owners had forced to compulsory labour for the past 15 years. She was represented by Sharifan Ghangro advocate, who said that the owners were underfeeding the detainees and were not ready to settle their accounts.

She said that the applicant had approached police but they did not help her. The Tando Mohammad Khan police produced them in sessions court, which released them with directives to police to provide them protection.

In another identical application, the court released 42 kiln workers after an application was filed by Mughal, son Deero Jumo, against kiln owners, Ajmal Khan, Haji Khan Magsi, Azeem Khan through Rehana Gujjar advocate. The applicant’s counsel said that the detainees were subjected to torture. She said that the applicant approached people of the area but they did not help him. The court ordered recovery of detainees and police produced the 42 kiln workers in court.