9-year-old tribal boy’s death in Tirupati district exposes bonded labour horror
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Tirupati: The shocking death of a 9-year-old boy from the Yanadi tribal community has brought to light a disturbing case of bonded labour and exploitation in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district.
According to police, the boy, Yanadi Venkateshu, was illegally confined and forced into child labour for nearly a year by a family from N Agraharam in Satyavedu mandal. The Satyavedu police, under the supervision of Puttur DSP G Ravikumar, have arrested three accused: N Muthu (60), his wife M Dhanabhagyam (52), and their son M Rajasekhar (32).
The child’s mother, Ankamma, a resident of Chavatapalem in Gudur mandal, was working with her family as a farm labourer in Nellore district when they were approached by the accused. They were promised Rs 10,000/month wages and given an advance of Rs 15,000, only to be subjected to exploitative conditions, including duck rearing and agricultural work.
After Ankamma’s husband passed away, she returned home temporarily. Muthu then demanded Rs 45,000 to release the family from bonded labour. With no immediate funds, Ankamma left Venkateshu behind as a surety while she arranged the amount.
The boy, subjected to daily toil and abuse, pleaded to be rescued. Ankamma's repeated attempts to retrieve her son were met with lies, Muthu alternately claimed the child had been sent for work, hospitalized, or had run away.
The truth emerged after Ankamma filed a police complaint on 19 May 2025. Investigations revealed that Venkateshu had fallen ill on 11 April, was hospitalized in Pudupaalem, and died the next day. In a bid to hide the death, the accused secretly buried the body in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district, Muthu’s in-laws' native village.
The body was later exhumed under the supervision of Kanchi Sub-Collector Rafeeq and a postmortem was conducted at Chengalpattu Medical College. All three accused were remanded under multiple laws including the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Activists highlight that this is not an isolated case. The Yanadi tribal community continues to face systemic exploitation across sectors such as duck rearing, charcoal production, brick kilns, and shrimp processing. Last year alone, nearly 50 Yanadi individuals were rescued from bonded labour across Andhra Pradesh.
In a similar recent case, Yanadi couple Namburu Padma and Agni from Nellore reported being trapped in bonded labour for over 15 years.
Shaik Basheer, Executive Secretary of ARD NGO and a District Vigilance Committee member, emphasized the urgent need for a State Action Plan on Bonded Labour to prevent such tragedies.
“Addressing individual cases is not enough. The state must proactively monitor industries and protect vulnerable communities,” he said.
NGOs such as Shed India have rescued other children from similar situations, and efforts are ongoing to ensure justice for Venkateshu’s family. Venkatesh, a representative of the National Adivasi Solidarity Council (NASC), confirmed that investigations continue, and the final postmortem report is awaited.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
