Rajkot, Jun 8 (PTI) Forced to work over 10 hours a day on a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 and faced assault and abuse by the owner, 21 individuals from West Bengal, including 16 children and five youths, were rescued from two makeshift intimation jewellery units in Rajkot, officials said.

The accused, identified as Ajitmaula Ajmatmaula, who hails from Purba Bardhaman district, was arrested following the rescue in the early hours of June 6, police said on Sunday.

Ajmatmaula was booked under sections 118 (assault) and 146 (unlawfully compulsory labour) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, said Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bharat Basiya.

After medical reporters confirmed that some of the rescued boys were thrashed by the accused for not doing work as instructed, and in one instance, an object was shoved into the rectum of one of them, police invoked the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in the FIR.

“Based on a specific tip-off, a team of Rajkot Police raided a house on the Morbi Road during early the hours of Friday where 14 minors (boys) under the age of 18 and five adults aged 18 to 22 were found. They told police that they were forced to work for over 10 hours a day to make imitation jewellery,” said Basiya.

Ajmatmaula was nabbed from another place with two boys, who told police that they were beaten up by the accused, said the ACP.

A preliminary probe revealed that Ajmatmaula brought the victims to Rajkot from different parts of West Bengal with the permission of their parents.

“He used to pay Rs 8,000 per month to each of these minors and youths. Ajitmaula used to thrash the children if they failed to complete the work or refused to obey him. All the 16 minors and five adults have been kept at a childcare home in the city under the supervision of officials,” said the officer. PTI Cor PJT NSK