12 Labourers Rescued from Bonded Labour in UP Factory; Two Arrested

For three months, 68-year-old Meharbaan Shah did not know if his son Dilshad Mohammad, 24, was alive. Dilshad had left home in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha district five months ago to find work. After a few weeks of regular calls, the calls stopped. On Tuesday, Meharbaan's phone rang: it was Dilshad.

Dilshad and 11 other men were rescued on Monday by Muzaffarnagar Police from a factory manufacturing disposable leaf plates in Titawi area. Police said the workers were allegedly held as bonded labourers, confined for months, forced to work up to 20 hours a day, and subjected to physical abuse.

“When I heard my son’s voice, I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t speak for a few moments,” said Meharbaan. “The first thing I asked was where he was. He said Muzaffarnagar. I immediately asked him to come home.”

Dilshad told police that he and others were never allowed to leave the premises. “If anyone asked to go home, questioned the conditions, or even slept for more than three or four hours, they were beaten and tortured. They also took away my mobile phone, so I had no way of telling my family or anyone outside what we were enduring,” he said.

The rescue operation was conducted by a joint team of police, district administration, and labour department on Monday after a man who reportedly escaped from the factory provided information. The workers, aged between 16 and 44, are from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

Police arrested two people: Pradeep Balyan (49), father of factory owner Ankit Balyan, and Ankit's associate Shiva Tyagi (26). Ankit is absconding; police said multiple teams are conducting raids to arrest him. The accused have been booked under sections of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986; the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015; and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

Police said the workers alleged they were lured from railway stations and other public places by Ankit and others with promises of steady jobs, decent wages, free accommodation and meals, only to find themselves trapped inside the factory. Inside, the accused allegedly kept the men under control through violence, intimidation, and verbal abuse, subjecting them to inhumane living and working conditions while preventing them from leaving.

Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Sanjai Kumar said a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Superintendent of Police Mahadik Akshay Sanjay, has been constituted to conduct a comprehensive investigation. Workers recounted receiving one meal a day, daily beatings with sticks, and even a dog to terrorise them.

Sonu Chauhan from Agra said he had been working at the factory for two months. “I was brought here from Ambala after being promised a job. We were given only one meal a day and beaten if we complained.” Police continue to search for the absconding owner.