Kolkata: Three bonded labourers, including a 50-year-old man brought from over 700km away in Sundarbans, were rescued from a cold storage facility in Alipurduar during a joint operation by police, district administration and labour department officials.
Acting on specific information, a team from Alipurduar police station raided the facility on Thursday, freeing Kalipada Mondal, 50, from Nandakumarpur in Sundarbans alongside two 16-year-old boys.
Initial findings revealed Mondal had been trapped in bonded labour for nearly two decades across various cold storage units, including the past three years at the Alipurduar unit. A local contractor had recruited him against an advance of Rs 25,000.
Sources said the workers were kept confined and denied wages. Officials said authorities concerned have initiated statutory rehabilitation and restoration procedures for the three, along with child-protection measures for the minors.