Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has demanded the harshest punishment for those accused in a suspected bonded labour racket in Uttar Pradesh after police rescued 12 labourers, including minors, from a paper plate manufacturing factory in Mandi village of Muzaffarnagar. The rescue followed a police raid on June 22 after an escaped worker alerted authorities.
Calling the incident “an assault on human dignity“, Gandhi said victims deserved “justice along with rehabilitation” and that those responsible should face the toughest punishment available under the law. In a post on X, he argued the case reflected deeper economic distress, adding, “This is no ordinary criminal incident — it is the rubble of a crumbling economy“.
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According to Uttar Pradesh Police, the labourers had allegedly been recruited from several states after being promised jobs paying ₹12,000 a month. Investigators say they were never paid wages and were instead confined inside the factory, where they were forced to work for long hours. Some victims reportedly told police they worked from around 4 a.m. until midnight and had been held for months.
Police said the investigation began when a worker identified as Vikram escaped the premises and reached Titawi Police Station. His complaint led officials and Executive Magistrate Radhey Shyam Gaur to raid the factory, where officers found workers with visible injuries. Victims later alleged they had been whipped, attacked by dogs, branded with hot irons and denied proper food. Those allegations form part of the ongoing investigation and have not yet been tested in court.
Investigators have named factory owner Ankit Balyan, along with Pradeep Balyan and Shiva Tyagi, in the case. Police said the accused face charges under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, child labour provisions and other criminal laws. Two suspects have been arrested, while efforts to locate the factory owner were continuing, according to police.
The case has drawn national attention because several rescued workers reportedly came from Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal, pointing to a possible interstate trafficking network. Labour rights groups have long warned that bonded labour persists in informal manufacturing despite its abolition under Indian law in 1976. Police say the investigation is continuing, including efforts to identify others who may have been involved.
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