Six Punjabi youths rescued from Malaysia

JALANDHAR - Six Punjabi youths, who had gone to Malaysia in pursuit of big bucks but were forced to work in inhuman conditions for meagre wages, have been rescued by the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP), an official said Monday.

The youths, in their early 20s, had gone to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia through a Jalandhar-based travel agent July 27. They paid Rs.150,000 each to the agent, who promised a fruits-packing job to them.

“On reaching Kuala Lumpur, a Tamil speaking man took their money and told them that the job of fruit-packing was not available. They were given a job in a cement factory and were forced to live in miserable conditions,” Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, president of Punjab-based LBP, which is working for the rights of Indians stranded abroad, told IANS.

“They were issued fake work permits of three years and if we had not intervened then the Malaysian police would have arrested them.”

LBP is now planning to register an FIR against the travel agent and to stage a protest outside his office here.

“The owner of the cement factory used to lock us in a small room. We were allowed to come out only for work and food. We worked there for two months but were not paid anything. We got a meal only once in a day,” said Paramjit Singh, one of the victims.