PADUBIDRI: A team of officials including the Labour Inspector who raided the stone quarrying unit at Pambur on Monday, has taken a child labourer into custody while the other six child labourers managed to escape.
The child labourer who has been taken into custody has been identified as Myagvil. The raid followed complaints from locals that minors were made to work at the quarry owned by one Shekar Shetty and run by Mohan Shetty. It is being said that the official team which saw the children running from the quarry could watch them helplessly unable to chase them.
Labour inspector Rajesh informed that though locals had said that the boy looked 10 years old, the medical examinations prove that he has crossed 14 years following which he was handed over to his parents. Meanwhile, allegations are heard that some influential hands had played a role behind proving that the boy was above 14 years.
The stone quarry apart from employing child labourers also posed problems to the locals by proving to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes due to stagnation of water. Moreover, even the quarry workers maintained total unhygienity in the absence of lavatories for them. Locals say their complaint with the quarry owner in this regard repeatedly had proved futile.
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