All Tea Garden workers safely rescued from Arunachal Pradesh, brought to Kailashahar

After nearly twenty days, all 45 youths from tea garden worker families were safely rescued from Arunachal Pradesh and brought to Kailashahar on Monday evening, following the sincere efforts of local MLA and Minister Tinku Roy.

According to sources, on Tuesday, December 23, workers from the Kalishasan and Rangrung tea gardens had lodged a written complaint at the Kailashahar Police Station. The complaint stated that ten youths from Kalishasan Tea Garden and fourteen from Rangrung Tea Garden were lured on December 9 with promises of employment and attractive salaries and were taken to Arunachal Pradesh on the pretext of work in Agartala.

However, after reaching Arunachal Pradesh, the youths were allegedly forced to work excessively without payment, subjected to inhuman treatment, and physically assaulted. It was also alleged that they were deprived of proper food.

Upon being informed of the incident, Minister Tinku Roy immediately wrote to the Labour Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and the Labour Commissioner on December 23, urging them to take immediate steps for the rescue of the youths. The minister also personally spoke to the Arunachal Pradesh Labour Minister and the Labour Commissioner over the phone.

On December 24, the Arunachal Pradesh Police rescued the youths, which was communicated to Minister Roy by the Arunachal Pradesh Labour Minister. Subsequently, acting on the minister’s direction, inspectors of the Unakoti district Labour Department—Tanmay Barua and Bijoy Sharma—along with two police personnel from Kailashahar Police Station, went to Arunachal Pradesh to bring the rescued youths back.

Minister Roy, who was present at Kailashahar Police Station, interacted with the youths to ascertain how and by whom they were taken to Arunachal Pradesh. He stated that while initially 24 youths—10 from Kalishasan Tea Garden and 14 from Rangrung Tea Garden—were identified for rescue, an additional 21 youths were also recovered. Among them, 11 youths belong to Piyaricherra and Sonaichhari tea gardens under Kadamtala block of North Tripura, while the remaining 10 are from Manubali and Halaicherra tea gardens in Kailashahar.

The minister further informed that seven of the 45 rescued youths are minors aged between 16 and 17 years. He directed the Officer-in-Charge of Kailashahar Police Station to arrest Om Prakash Upadhyay, who allegedly facilitated the transportation of the youths to Arunachal Pradesh.

All 45 youths were brought back by train and reached Dharmanagar Railway Station around 3:30 pm on Tuesday. They were then taken to Kailashahar Police Station in a police bus, where legal formalities were completed before they were handed over to their families in the evening.

Relieved at their safe return, guardians from the tea garden areas expressed heartfelt gratitude to Minister Tinku Roy, heaving a sigh of relief as the youths finally reunited with their families.