The Police in Kalahandi district in Odisha on Thursday arrested five people in connection with the barbaric incident in which hands of two migrant labourers were chopped off by labour contractors. The incident had occurred two days back.
The five arrested include Parbez Dani, a labour contractor from neighbouring Nuapara district and four of his associates.
A search is on to nab a few others involved in the incident which has already triggered an uproar in different circles within and outside the state.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has already sought a detailed report from the state government on the incident.
The rights body has reacted responding to petitions filed by a few non-governmental organisations.
The state government, which has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to both labourers besides promising appropriate action against the perpetrators, admitted on Thursday that the existing labour law was not adequate to punish the labour contractors involved in human rights violation.
“The existing labour law is not sufficient. We are contemplating strengthening the law so that it can act as a deterrent for the labour contractors indulging in Kalahandi like incident”, State Labour Minister Bijoyshree Routray said.
Meanwhile, the incident has prompted the local administration in western Odisha districts where illegal labour smuggling is rampant to check illegal migration.
On a single day on Thursday, the Nuapara district administration rescued 500 migrant labourers from a local railway station when they were being illegally smuggled to a southern state.
The labourers belong to Nuapara and Kalahandi districts in Odisha as well as neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
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