Karnataka / Bengaluru: Workers returned home after walking 1000 KM without money and food, owner did not give salary, forced to beat

Troubled by the torture of their employer in Bengaluru, three migrant laborers walked 1000 kilometers without money and food to reach their home in Odisha on Sunday. The three laborers, Katar Manjhi, Budu Manjhi and Bhikari Manjhi, were all returning home from Tingalkan village of Jayapatna in Kalahandi when locals spotted them at Padalguda in Pottangi block of Koraput.

Went to Bangalore with the help of middleman

All the three laborers had gone from Odisha to Bangalore to get a job. They were part of a group of 12 people who had gone to Bengaluru two months ago with the help of a middleman from Balugaon. After this he got a job in a company but his employer refused to pay him his wages. When the workers asked for their dues, they were tortured and beaten up.

Started on foot from 26 March

After this, when the three were returning to their home passing through Koraput in Odisha, some local people saw them and questioned them. During this, he told that he started this walk from 26 March. A video of him has also surfaced, in which he is walking with luggage and a bottle of water in his hand.

Couldn’t bear the torture of the owner then returned

The three laborers told that we had gone to Bengaluru with the hope of earning money to support our families, but the company employees there refused to give us our salaries. We could not tolerate their harassment, so we left from there. However, seeing their plight, a shopkeeper on the way fed them food. And the president of the Pottangi unit of the Odisha Motorists’ Association gave him Rs 1,500 and also arranged for him to go home.