SIALKOT: The police on Wednesday claimed to have recovered 32 children from various brick kilns of the district while working as bonded labourers.
Teams of different police stations spotted the children working at brick kilns and factories in the district and recovered 32 bonded child labourers including two girls.
The recovered children include 6-year-old Abdullah, 10-year-old Shamraiz, 7-year-old Salman, 9-year-old Nadeem, 12-year-old Atish, 9-year-old Haroon, 11-year-old Sameer, 14-year-old Hassan, 13-year-old Ammar, 14-year-old Muneeb, 11-year-old Suniel, 15-year-old Abdul Rehman, 12-year-old Shakeel, 16-year-old Adeel, 17-year-old Bilal, 15-year-old Adeel, 9-year-old Usman, 13-year-old Haroon, 14-year-old Akhtar, 11-year-old Haroon, 15-year-old Shakir, 14-year-old Ibrahim, 12-year-old Irfan, 10-year-old Zeeshan, Atif and Basit, 12-year-old Humza, 9-year-old Hussain, 8-year-old Kashif and 5-year-old Majid.
The police also arrested 20 accused who were forcing the children to labour at the bricks kilns and factories. Cases against the apprehended were also registered.
Once done with the formalities, all the children will be handed over to the child protection bureau, the police said.
It may be noted that the developments came following Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s surprise visit to brick kilns on the outskirts of Kasur. The chief minister on Monday had visited the brick kilns for inspection and expressed strong indignation over children being involved in physical labour.
Other than ordering an immediate arrest of the brick kiln owners responsible for child labour, the chief minister had also directed that the children working at the kilns be immediately admitted to schools.