Two hundreden fifty AP workers held captive in Uzbekistan

• AP govt seeks Centre’s help to secure their freedom
• Minister Raghunatha Reddy says they are kept in a container
• Operators lured them by promising high wages
• AP govt to bear all expenses for their safe return
• A helpline 9949054467 set up for benefit of their kin

Hyderabad: About 250 men from north Andhra, mostly from Visakhapatnam city, are stranded in a remote place in Uzbekistan. The Andhra Pradesh government has sought the help of the Union government to rescue the stranded workers.

An employment agency at Gajuwaka in Visakhapanam had allegedly lured them and sent them to Uzbekistan, promising high wages. All of them are held captive, lodged in a container under semi-human conditions with scant food and water. The employers at Uzbekistan has seized their passports and visa and are subjecting them to torture, according to Minister for Information and Public Relations Palle Raghunadha Reddy, here on Tuesday. He received a call from one of the workers.

The Minister told the media that he had received a call from one Venkatesh, a resident of Gajuwaka, an industrial suburb of Visakhapatnam, and narrated the horrendous conditions being faced by the workers.

Raghunadha Reddy said a duo, named Ravi Kumar and Papa Rao, claiming to be representative of Pragna Welding Institute, had collected Rs 1.25 lakh each from the 250 workers and promised them employment in Uzbekistan with a salary of Rs 60,000 for eight-hour work for 22 days in a month.

After formalities were completed, they were sent to Uzbekistan in February this year through the main agency called Place Well HRD, located at Ameerpet in Hyderabad.

They were told they were employed in a construction company called Sungchang Engineering and Construction project in Akchalak city of Uzbekistan. Soon after they landed, their documents were seized and lodged in a container, cutting them off from each other. Even they were not allowed to call their family members. “Venkatesh somehow escaped and through contacts could reach me and explained the situation,” the Minster said.

The government is making all efforts to free them from the clutches of employers and bring them back to the State. A letter was sent to Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, who promised to alert the Indian Embassy in Uzbekistan.

The AP government would bear all the expenses for their travel from Uzbekistan to their native homes. A helpline 9949054467 was also opened for the benefit of their family members. The agents and operators, who allegedly indulged in human trafficking, disappeared. Visakhapatnam Superintendent of Police was asked to track down the offenders.