The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tiruvallur district police to respond by Wednesday to a habeas corpus petition alleging illegal detention of five north Indian labourers in a brick kiln at Pudukuppam village near Vengal.
Justices N. Kirubakaran and R. Hemalatha issued the direction on a habeas corpus petition filed by advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam on the basis of media reports that those who had been detained were actually bonded labourers.
Claiming that the labourers were not being allowed to go back to their home States by the brick kiln owner despite the threat of COVID-19 looming large, the petitioner said, the employer went to the extent of hiring henchmen to beat up the labourers and force them to stay in the kiln.
