Police said  52 Dalit and tribal persons, including 16 women and 4 children, were kept in the shade for three years.

Police said the people were beaten up when they protested against the torture inflicted on them by the people who kept them in captivity.

Police conducted raid at the small shed at the Hassan area of Karnataka after receiving information on the bonded labour ring after a man escaped scaling a 12-feet wall and reached for help.

A police complaint has been lodged under sections 323, 324 (wrongful confinement), 344 (theft), 356 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Bonded Labour System (Abolition Act) and the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), reported News 18.

The people, who were rescued, were aged between six and 62 years, said police.

M. Prathima from International Justice Mission, told a news channel: "They were locked up at night. As a result, they would complain at night that they needed to go to the toilet. Finally, a pipe was installed inside the shed and they were asked to use that corner as a toilet. Women would have to use it, and their husbands would hold up a towel as a curtain to try and protect their privacy."

The accused person were identified as Munesha, Krishnegowda, Basavaraja, Pradeep and Nagaraja.

Explaining the modus operandi, a senior police officer told News18, “Two auto drivers would target migrant workers at railway stations. Either these were workers looking for work, or the ones in transit they would walk up to them and offer a day’s work for Rs 600 or so. But afterwards they would capture them and virtually enslave them.” 

The captives were mostly from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

“The work operated on a demand and supply basis. So during the brick kiln season, they worked there. When they were rescued, they had been working at a ginger farm. Their work day would start at 3am and they’d work up to 10pm,” added Prathima.