68 minors rescued from bag-manufacturing units

 As many as 68 minor children who were forced to work in highly unhygienic conditions at bag manufacturing units in the City were rescued on Monday.

 

The children who hail from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal were later handed over to the Child Welfare Committee, police said. Seven persons have been arrested in this connection.

Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising sleuths from the CCB, officials of the Labour department and representatives of a non-government organisation raided four houses on Modi Road in DJ Halli where the children were employed. These houses were converted into factories with sewing machines to manufacture bags for school and college students. 

The arrested have been identified as Mohammad Tahir, Mohammad Arafat, Mohammad Saddam, Abdul Kalam, Sarfaraj, Mohammad Fayaz and Mohammad Atiullah, all aged between 30 and 35 years. They had employed the minors over the last four months, police added.

Of the child labourers, 42 were aged below 14 years, while 26 were below 18 years, police said. The arrested have been booked under IPC, Child Labour Act and Juvenile Justice Act. 

Homemaker robbed

Manjeshwari Senthil Kumar, 30, a resident of VB Cross, Lakshmi Road, Shanthinagar, was robbed of gold ornaments worth Rs 2.30 lakh and Rs 2.70 lakh cash by two unidentified persons who allegedly barged into her house and threatened to kill her child.

The incident took place between 7 pm and 7.30 pm when there was a power cut in the area. 

“I was alone in the house. One of my children was playing outside, while another was inside. I was sitting outside. I heard some noise and went inside. There were two youths who had masked their faces. They held my child and threatened to kill him if I did not hand over the valuables,” she told the police.

The suspects threw some red coloured powder into her eyes and she collapsed. They robbed her of two gold bangles, one gold ring, one gold chain and Rs 2.7 lakh kept inside the almirah and fled, police said.

Auto drivers held 

The City traffic police have registered cheating cases against two autorickshaw drivers for tampering with meters and collecting exorbitant fare from passengers.

The traffic police, along with officials of Legal Metrology department conducted a drive against autorickshaws with faulty meters on Sampige Road on Saturday. The police inspected 203 autorickshaws and recovered 18 faulty meters.

“We decided to conduct the drive, following complaints about cheating and faulty meters from passengers. The drive would be intensified,” a senior police officer said.

Man, sister arrested The Nandini Layout police have arrested two persons in connection with a murder reported last year. 

The suspects are S B Prashanth, 33, of Kothnur Main Road and his elder sister B S Suvarna, 40, a resident of Banashankari. 

The Srirampura police had failed to solve the murder case. Hence, it was transferred to the Nandini Layout police.

Rachappaji and Suvarna tied the knot 17 years ago. Rachappaji was publishing a newspaper, but later closed it down. He would harass his wife, suspecting her fidelity. Hence, she parted ways with him. 

On September 24, 2013, Suvarna and Prashanth bludgeoned Rachappaji to death in Okalipuram.  On being told by the Srirampura police that their role in the murder was not clear, the court had granted them bail. 

Rachappaji had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections from Varuna constituency against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2013. He had lost his deposit in the  elections.