Bonded labour is a reality in Bengaluru, but convictions rates are abysmally low

Crime

In many cases of bonded labour, an FIR is not registered and the other cases almost never reach the court.

Theja Ram

Over a week ago, 32-year-old Jyothi, her 15-day-old son and two of her daughters were rescued from bonded labour in Bengaluru. Jyothi’s family had to run from pillar to post just to file a complaint with the local police and finally, on Monday, they met with Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul Kumar and submitted a complaint. The DCP directed the jurisdictional KG Halli Police to register an FIR. However, when Jyothi went to the police station to file a complaint, the building contractor Jaysilla, who is accused of enslaving Jyothi and her family members was also present at the station. “The police mediated a settlement between Jyothi and Jaysilla. Both parties agreed that a case would not be registered and that Jaysilla would not threaten or bother Jyothi. The social worker Habeebullah, who rescued them has promised to keep an eye on Jaysilla,” said Kalimullah, a social worker, who had taken Jyothi to Bowring Hospital, on April 26, the night she was assaulted by Jaysilla’s goons. Read: Chased and assaulted by goons at night, victims of bonded labour rescued in Bengaluru Why FIRs are rarely registered in bonded labour cases Sources in the KG Halli Police station say that the Inspector convinced Jyothi that going through legal procedures would be tedious and that it would be better for her to settle the case outside of court. Speaking to TNM, Shantanu Dutta, Spokesperson for the National Coalition to Eradicate Bonded Labour and Human Trafficking says that in many cases of bonded labour, an FIR is not registered and the other cases almost never reach the court. “The FIR is not filed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it may be because the police officials see bonded labour cases as those of labour violations. They are not made aware of how to investigate such cases as they do not know what the law says. Secondly, in most cases, the person enslaving the victims have connections and they persuade the police to mediate and settle the matter, like in Jyothi’s case,” he said. Another reason, Shantanu maintains is that the victims constantly migrate and the police do not want to go into the trouble of tracking them down during the trial. “The police also convince the victims that going through the trial would take years and that it would drain them financially to pay for the legal proceedings,” he said. Conviction rate in bonded labour cases is drastically low Speaking to TNM, Balan, a public prosecutor practicing in Karnataka for 30 years says that police officers are not trained properly and lack knowledge about the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976. He says that the police do not follow required procedures to gather evidence, which leads to acquittals. In most cases of bonded labour, where FIRs are registered, another issue causes the trial to fall flat – inaccurate chargesheets. Balan says that the police rarely inform the Labour Department or the Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts and obtain a release certificate. “The DC has to give a release certificate and this document is evidence that the victims were in fact victims of bonded labour. The DC has to conduct a preliminary probe before issuing the RC. Most chargesheets do not have this document,” Shantanu says. Another impediment to convictions in cases of bonded labour, he says are the inordinate delays in the legal proceedings.  “The chargesheet is filed may be six months or a year after the rescue happens. The police do not look into the trafficking element and track down all the people involved in the nexus of bonded labour. They only arrest the person who enslaved the victims and more often than not, the accused get bail. They do not trace call records or try to connect the dots or procure evidence as to how the victims ended up in such a situation. Lack of evidence always give the accused reasonable doubt and hence leads to acquittals,” he added.    

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EC relaxes poll code in K’taka, developmental projects to continue

Lok Sabha 2019

The BJP, however, has opposed the decision of the EC stating that this may have repercussions at a later point.

TNM Staff

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A number of developmental and infrastructure projects were put on hold in the state of Karnataka in view of the Election Commission imposing the model code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, the Election Commission stated that the projects may continue and has opted to relax the model code of conduct. However, the EC made it clear that no elected representative should be involved in any aspect of any project’s process. A screening committee led by the Chief Secretary is to take all the important decisions regarding the projects instead. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opposed the decision of the EC stating that this decision may have repercussions at a later point. Former Karnataka Chief Minister and State BJP President, BS Yeddyurappa expressed his displeasure with the EC’s current decision. “My gut feeling is, in this transition period when the general elections are in progress, the decisions taken by the state government will amount to violation of the model code of conduct, leading to various irregularities,” he said. Another senior BJP leader, R Ashoka, legislator and coordinator of the party’s campaign in the state, said that he fears that the money from contractors may be misappropriated and used to fund polls. While the BJP leaders have opposed the decision, several contractors have shown their support for the move. In light of the Election Commission’s latest decision, the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) has begun to plan for the construction of a seven-floor Grameena Abhivrudhi Bhavana on Friday and has expressed its desire to invite submissions of architectural designs for the project. Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka were held in two phases – the first on April 18 and the second on April 23. Results to the elections will be declared on May 23.

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2 BMTC staffers held in connection with fake currency racket, Rs 81 lakh recovered

Crime

Another accused was also arrested while the kingpin of the racket is absconding.

TNM Staff

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Police in Bengaluru have arrested two Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) workers for allegedly being part of a fake currency racket on Friday. The accused have been identified as Nanja Gowda, who is employed as a driver with the state-run bus corporation and Somanagouda who is a driver-cum-conductor. Both the accused were reporting to Depot No 4 in Jayanagar. BMTC Public Relations Officer Deepak said that the duo have been suspended and a departmental enquiry will be carried out alongside investigations by the city police. The duo were allegedly part of a counterfeit currency ring and were found in possession of fake currency amounting to Rs 81.30 lakh in new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes. Another accomplice, a photographer from Channarayapatna, was also arrested, while the fourth accused and reported head of the racket, is absconding. Somanagouda was allegedly conned into becoming a part of the racket. According to the police, one accused (yet to be apprehended) Ramakrishna was running a counterfeit currency business and would dupe people by promising to double their money. Somanagouda had initially fallen for this and had given money to Ramakrishna which was doubled and returned to him. Following this, he sold his land in his native village and had given an amount of Rs 7.8 lakh to Ramakrishna awaiting a doubled return. When he did not get the amount back, he began worrying and was inducted into the counterfeit racket when he approached Ramakrishna about his money. Somanagouda then recruited Nanja Gouda who then pulled in Kiran, a photographer, for his photoshop skills. Yelahanka police have formed another team to find Ramakrishna, who they suspect is running a statewide counterfeit network. 

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Tennessee will ask Trump to OK first Medicaid block grant

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Anti-abortion clinics caught in tumult over Trump family planning rules

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Authorities finally wake up to dangling internet cables in Bengaluru, take action

Infrastructure

BESCOM and BBMP have started the drive to remove the overhanging optical fibre cables across the city.

Rohit R.

After repeated complaints from residents over the safety risks posed by overhead cables, the BBMP has finally begun removing the optical fibre cables (OFC) in Bellandur, Sarjapur Main Road and other areas in the Mahadevapura Zone during last week of April.  Citizens in the area have been complaining about cables being hung in a haphazard manner on trees and electric poles. Despite the safety concerns being raised in ward meetings since November 2018, no action was taken by the authorities. Bellandur Development Forum, a residents’ body then lodged a complaint with the local police who filed an FIR against the telecom operators. Vishnu, one of the coordinators of the Bellandur Development Forum says, “We have failed to look at this issue from a pedestrian’s point of view. All the cables are being tied up in a haphazard way as they dangle from poles, trees and footpaths making it difficult to walk. It still isn’t over, as there is no concrete solution in sight for this problem.”  However, the sudden drive is affecting internet services of major technology companies in the area like Uber, Wipro and PayPal. The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) — an association of telecom companies, has issued a statement that the cutting of OFC without prior intimation to the providers would lead to outages and cause inconvenience to the users.  The statement added that the BBMP is treating all the overground cables as unauthorised even though necessary permissions have been obtained. The statement said they were forced to lay them overhead as they were removed accidentally during works carried out by the civic agencies. The COAI is also blaming the BBMP for affecting mobile phone towers across the city due to the drive. Because of the internet outage, holidays were declared for offices in IT Parks where the services were affected. However, the residents aren’t complaining. “I think that everyone is ready to suffer for the cause. So, let it get sorted once and for all”, said a resident. Due to the enormity of the work to be done, the work has been confined to a few areas for now. Lack of personnel due to the Model Code of Conduct being in place, has also slowed the pace of work. Careless work done by the telecom operators in digging up the roads to lay the underground cables and substandard patchwork have been a cause of concern for motorists in the area. The residents have demanded good infrastructure and the implementation of a structured cabling network in the roads where underground cables are not feasible. The residents also hope that there is a timeline for these issues to be resolved. Utility services like BESCOM and BBMP have already started the drive across the city. Speaking to TNM, Shikha C, the managing director of BESCOM said that the required action is taken on a regular basis and the cables are being removed across the city. 

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Dinner party fallout: Cong defiant but Kumaraswamy wants action against rebels

Lok Sabha 2019

Cheluvarayaswamy and 4 other local Cong leaders from Mandya were seen having dinner along with independent candidate from Mandya, Sumalatha Ambareesh on April 30.

Theja Ram

Fissures between the Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka seem to have widened after a Congress leader from Mandya’s Nagamangala, Cheluvarayaswamy, met with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday. Cheluvarayaswamy and four other local Congress leaders from Mandya were seen having dinner at Capitol Hotel in Bengaluru along with independent candidate from Mandya, Sumalatha Ambareesh, on April 30. The CCTV footage of the dinner party went viral on Wednesday, after which both Congress and JD(S) leaders spoke out against each other. The internal feud resulted in KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao questioning Cheluvarayaswamy and his followers on Friday, as to why they were part of the dinner party with Sumalatha. Congress insiders say that during the dialogue with Gundu Rao, Cheluvarayaswamy maintained that he had not indulged in anti-party activities, as he was against the JD(S) before the coalition was formed and that he was not willing to change his stance. “He asked Dinesh Gundu Rao whether CM Kumaraswamy and the JD(S) leaders would help the Congress grow in Mandya, or if it was the duty of Congress leaders to do so. He also posed several questions to the KPCC chief, and said that the JD(S) is its primary rival in the region and that he had refrained from offering his support to Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil during the Lok Sabha campaign as he is answerable to the party workers in Mandya,” the source said. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Cheluvarayaswamy said that he had attended the dinner party of a friend and that he was not aware of Sumalatha being invited. He maintained that he had not indulged in anti-party activities as he had attended a party that took place after the election was over. “Vote counting is on May 23. There are no elections happening here. Just because I had dinner with friends does not mean I am working against the party,” he said. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Minority Affairs, Zameer Ahmed Khan came to Cheluvarayaswamy’s rescue and stated that Congress leaders had not taken part in Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s election campaign in Mandya as CM Kumaraswamy had not approached them for help. “During the bye-elections, Kumaraswamy had held a meeting with all Congress leaders from Mandya and had personally asked for their support. This time, the JD(S) felt that they had enough influence in Mandya. If they had asked for support, the leaders would have given it,” Zameer Ahmed Khan said. Cheluvarayaswamy and Zameer Ahmed Khan were formerly with the JD(S). However, in 2016 Zameer Ahmed and Cheluvarayaswamy along with four other JD(S) MLAs, defected to the Congress as they felt they were being sidelined by party supremo HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy. Ever since the defection, Cheluvarayaswamy has been a vocal supporter of former CM Siddaramaiah and has on multiple occasions spoken against Deve Gowda and his family members. Congress insiders say that offering his support to Kumaraswamy’s son would have been a bitter pill for Cheluvaraswamy to swallow, and hence, he refrained from campaigning for Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya. “Kumaraswamy has been trying to sabotage the political career of all the MLAs who had defected from JD(S) and joined Congress. Cheluvaraswamy has openly spoken out against Kumaraswamy and his son Nikhil during the Lok Sabha election campaign. It was only after Siddaramaiah told him to refrain from making such comments did he stop. Besides, several of his followers had openly supported Sumalatha and Kumaraswamy wanted him to pay. Now JD(S) is demanding that Cheluvaraswamy be suspended from the party and Siddaramaiah is not ready to take that step,” the source added.    

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