MIRPURKHAS, Oct 22: Naoabad police booked on Wednesday an influential landlord of Sanghar, Thakur Nazeer Kaimkhani, his son and their henchmen on charges of kidnapping 119 peasants and subjecting them to torture as five more bonded labourers were recovered after a raid in the limits of Dilber Maher police station.
Kanji Ranomal Bheel, coordinator of HRCP core group, said that a total of 144 peasants, including women and children, had been kidnapped by Thakur Nazeer Kaimkhani and kept in detention at secret places for fear of police raids.
Jam Nawaz Ali police recovered 25 detained bonded labourers, including women and children, in the first raid by on Deh 50 near Jam Nawaz Ali taluka and found 36 more bonded labourers, including women and children, in the second raid near Dilshakh Shakh, he said.
Dilber Maher police recovered five more bonded labourers including women after a raid on Luqman Narejo village on Wednesday, he said, adding, that so far 66 bonded labourers out of 144 had been recovered and claimed that the FIR for the remaining 25 kidnapped peasants would be lodged soon.
He said that the bonded labourers were kept in illegal detention and forced to work on the lands of the landlord. They were not even allowed to go to their relatives and were deprived of health facilities in case of illness, he said.
Police took action against the influential landlord after intervention by the high-ups of Sindh government under a case lodged by Mohan Bheel at Naoabad police station of Sanghar district.
He had nominated the accused, including Thakur Nazeer Kaimkhani, his son Naeem Kaimkhani, steward Mohan Bheel, Ghulam Haider, Tilchcho, Kirshan, Kanji and 16 unknown men.
Police have, however, not made any arrest yet of any accused till the filing of this report.
RALLY: A liberated peasant family belonging to Machhi community and a number of activists of HRCP held a rally on Wednesday in protest against an influential landlord of Sanghar, accusing him of having kept them as bonded labourers for five years.
The protesters led by HRCP activist Satram Das Sonani started their march from the railway station chowk, carrying banners and shouting slogans, and reached the press club where they staged a sit-in.
Members of the peasant family Mohammed Machhi, Juman, Zarina and Begi told journalists that Ali Ghulam Mari, an influential landlord, for whom they had been working for five years had refused to settle their accounts and denied them share in the produce.
They alleged that that armed men of the landlord had subjected them to torture and criminally assaulted their women. They would lock up their women in separate rooms at night and not let them move freely, they complained.
They said that finally they decided to escape and took shelter in the HRCP’s camp. They demanded that the government provide them protection and take legal action against the landlord and his henchmen.