JOIN USAs many as 51 police officers and government officials were honoured with the Champions of Justice award on Friday for preventing human trafficking and bonded labour.
The event was organised by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the Criminal Investigation Department and the International Justice Mission to honour the officials who walked the extra mile to help the victims. The officials were felicitated by former Chief Justice of India, M N Venkatachalaiah, freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, IGP CID-Karnataka, Pronab Mohanty, and DIG CID-Karnataka, Soumendu Mukherjee.
This is the first time such an honour was bestowed on police officers by 23 NGOs. A manual - Trafficking of Persons: Law and Procedure for Bonded Labour - was released on the occasion. The manual, which will be placed in all the police stations, explains the law and procedure of handling human trafficking cases and the 30 types of bonded labour and human trafficking.
Speaking to Deccan Herald on the sidelines of the awards function, Mahesh Kumar, Circle Inspector, Vijayapura, said: “My family and I are not scared. They are proud of me, that’s what keeps me going. They understand my work timings, schedules, responsibility and duty. They support me.”
“Last year I rescued a family which was treated worse than slaves in a brick factory. Not only the man and wife, but the children, too, were abused. One night, when the tahsildar informed me about the pathetic condition of this family, I alerted my team and rushed to the spot. I raided the place and arrested the owner. Despite political pressure to release the accused and pressure to grant bail, I approached the court and ensured that the accused is booked.”
List of awardees
Police officers – Rajesh D, Mohammad Aslam, Muniyappa H, Ramesh, Nagamani, Naiyyaz Ahmad, Mahesh Kumar, Sidappa H, M S Kaulapure, Mariswamigowda, Shivakumar Swamy, Narayan Swamy, KG Raju, K Prasanna Kumar, Mubeena, C K Kavitha, Dakshayini, Madhu, E Ramesh, Puttaswamiah, Srinivasa Murthy, N Thippeswamy, K C Prasanna Kumar, V Govindiah, Nemiraj, Ayesha, Chankdraka, Shobha Kattavkar, Vijaykumar Bisnalli, Nagaraj, M K Murali, Sushanth Mahapatra, Rovina Bastian, Kumar, L C Nagaraj and Mahesh Babu.
Government officials – Hanumatharayappa (retired tahsildar), Rajeevalochana and Shivakumar (deputy tahsildars), Narmada Anand (DWDC), Muktha Bai (RDPR), Basavaraju (PA to Bangalore Urban DC) and Ramesh (Panchayat Development).