Thane: Made to slave for years for free homes built on government land

The Manpada police have arrested two brothers belonging to a regional political party for forcing Katkari tribals in Kalyanrsquos Khoni village to work for them as bonded labourers for decades The duo had allegedly forced them to sign documents to withdraw money from banks to avail of government schemes The accused then got a pucca house set up on government land and told them that were living there at their mercy Since the duomdashSanjay Patil 40 and Vijay Patil 45mdashhad got the pucca house made they would force tribal families to work in their fieldsAshok Waghe the complainantldquoWhenever I went to ask them for remuneration the Patil brothers would beat us badly We could not think of working somewhere else otherwise the brothers would thrash us badly in front of everyone and threatened to evacuate the house claiming that the land and house belonged to them and if we wanted to continue staying there we would have to work in their field without asking for any wagesrdquo the complainant Ashok Waghe said in his statement to the Manpada police The FIR was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC and Bonded Labour System Abolition Act against the brothers on December 3Complainant SpeakA couple of years ago the brothers had got a pucca house made for six tribal families on government land under a gram panchayat scheme At the time of converting their thatched hut into a house the accused had told them that the land on which the houses were built belonged to them and they had spent a huge amount to make a liveable space And in return the Patil brothers forced them to work in their fields even if they were sick Waghe 50 has been residing with his wife Suman at his inlawsrsquo house in Khoni village in Kalyan since marriage The other Katkari tribals who live in the village are Sunil Sundari Changibai Baby and Ankita Waghe according to the FIRFrom left Activist Goteram Waghe Khoni residents Sunil Sunita Suman Ashok and Sundari Waghe Rajesh Channe and two other activists PicsHanif PatelldquoThe houses were built in a row in the chawl at the village The Patil brothers would always tell me to bring my wife and other tribals from my wadi to work in their farms and do hard work as they had made us a pucca house We would forcibly cultivate paddy harvest rice sweep and thrash We would not get any wages for this work If we dared to go to work somewhere else to make money they would abuse us and beat us mercilesslyrdquo the complainant said ldquoAnd when the paddy season ended the Patil brothers would make us work at a contractorrsquos site and would force us to mine sand at low wagesrdquo he allegedActivistrsquos claimsA social activist Rajesh Channe told midday that these tribal families had lived on government land for the past 40 years ldquoSince the tribals are poor and illiterate they had been living in huts Taking advantage of them the accused got gram panchayat funds sanctioned for making pucca houses for these tribals At the time of getting the funds the accused would take them to the bank Each tribal had been sanctioned Rs 140 lakh from the gram panchayat to make a pucca house and six such tribals in the area had been living there for the past four decades in their hutsrdquo said Channe who is a member of Shramjeevi Sangathana which works for the betterment of tribals in MaharashtraThe house set up by the accused on government land under a gram panchayat schemeldquoAfter the tribalsrsquo bank accounts were credited all the money was withdrawn at the bank and the accused would give hardly R500 to each tribal to go back homerdquo Channe added ldquoAfter seizing nearly Rs 850 lakh from these tribal families the Patil brothers removed the hutments at their village and got the pucca house made for the familiesrdquo he addedHealth issuesThe complainant told the police that he had a paralysis attack around six years ago ldquoAfter that I was unable to go to work at Patilrsquos farm as I was on medication So Patil brothers did not spare me even here They got a government scheme sanctioned under my name and bought 14 goats out of the sanctioned fundrdquo he saidldquoThe brothers told me that the goats belonged to them but they were giving them to me to herd them I was told by them that I was their partner in this business but they would always sell the adult goats and I was not given a single pennyrdquo said Waghe alleging that he has been beaten mercilessly by Patil brothers on multiple occasionsVijay Patil Sanjay Patil the accusedldquoI cannot see through my left eye And if my condition was bad I would not herd the goats But they would not care about my deteriorating health and would always beat me for not going to workrdquo he said ldquoOn December 2 my wife had gone to Palghar and I was all alone at the house in Kalyan Since there was nothing to eat at home and also I was unwell I overslept and could not go herdingrdquo reads the FIRldquoWhen Vijay Patil came to know that about this he came to my house and started to hit me on my thigh Later he picked up a small wooden stick lying in front of my house and continued to rain blows mercilesslyrdquo he alleged ldquoThough I had been telling him I was unwell he did not give two hootsrdquo he addedThe social activist Channe said ldquoThe brothers smartly facilitated bank loans to Waghe to buy 14 goats from nearby areas Over time there were a total of 80 goats including the adult ones But brothers sold out the adult ones and they did not give a single penny to Waghe who had been herding the animals despite being illrdquoPolice caseThe matter reached Manpada police station only after Waghersquos wife met activists in Vasai taluka and the cops were asked to register an FIR against Patil brothers The Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunil Kurade said ldquoWe have arrested the brothers and they will be in police custody till December 11 This is a big case and the investigation is underwayrdquo