Three booked after family alleges bonded labour

The Amritsar (rural) police have registered a case after a family, along with BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla, alleged that a minor boy was subjected to bonded labour in a village near Jandiala.

Those booked by the Amritsar (rural) police have been identified as Manoj Kumar, Gopi and Manjinder Singh.

Chawla, along with the family of the boy, had alleged that 14-year old Sunil, who hailed from Pratapgarh in Bihar, was taken away on some pretext by Manoj Kumar four months back. Manoj then handed over the boy to one Gopi who further handed him over to Manjinder Singh.

Chawla, along with other BJP leaders, alleged, "The boy was traced with the help of the Amritsar police after the boy called up his family. But on Wednesday when they approached the Amritsar (rural) police, the police did not cooperate and the case was not registered owing to some influential persons of the area."

The boy's uncle, Shakal Yadav, alleged that money was involved in this and the police must probe it.

Meanwhile, the Jandiala SHO confirmed that the boy was made to work forcibly, but denied that he was sold to Manjinder.

The SHO said a case had been registered at the Jandiala police station.

Meanwhile, Chawla said the police must take this seriously and identify how many such boys were brought from Bihar and made to work forcibly in Punjab.