Hangarahalli case: Accused get bail

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, SEPT. 23. The six accused in the Hangarahalli bonded labour case were given conditional bail by the Mandya Additional District Sessions Court on Saturday.

The judge, Mr. Sudhakar A. Pandit, granted bail to Puttaswamy, a former corporator in Mysore and the owner of the quarry, Arun Kumar, Sreenivasa, Muniappa, Shivappa and Mahalingappa after they furnished two sureties and a bond of Rs. 30,000 each. He also directed them to make themselves present at the Arakere police station every Sunday.

The accused were directed to present themselves before the CoD, which is investigating the chaining of five labourers in a quarry owned by Puttaswamy. The court further directed the six accused not to tamper with evidence collected by the prosecution.

The accused had chained Rangaswamy and four others, belonging to the Bovi community, for not repaying the loan they had taken from Puttaswamy. The victims were allegedly chained for nearly two years and harassed by the quarry owner and others. They were rescued by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha activists on June 22 and the accused surrendered before the court the next day.

One of the accused, Mahalingappa, the owner of a welding shop in Hebbal Industrial Area in the city, was arrested by the police for welding the chains of the victims on the direction of Puttaswamy. In all, 70 families who were forcibly detained by the owners and their relatives were rescued by the KRRS activists.

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