Twelve labourers from the district, who were forced to work in Bhutan for the past couple of months, returned to their villages on Thursday.

One of the labourers alleged that the police threatened the group with dire consequences if they lodged a complaint against the contractor who had lured them with false promises.

Salim, a labour contractor from the Srinagar area, had allegedly lured 13 labourers from Upharail and Ranibari villages, around 345km northeast of Patna, under the jurisdiction of Srinagar police station, to Siliguri in Bengal in February. One of them, Rajesh Mahato, managed to flee and returned to Purnea.

Maqbool, the contractor who had trapped the labourers in Bhutan, decided to release them after a relative informed him about media reports of the group’s condition in the other country. The 12 men left Bhutan and reached Siliguri from where they were brought back home by Salim on Thursday. Unaccustomed to working in the terrain, the group was forced to work at an electric tower in a hilly region.

Purnea superintendent of police Kim said: “The labourers had gone on their own to Siliguri to work but were taken to Bhutan from there. They returned safely today (Thursday) and have demanded their pay for the two months they were made to work. Necessary action will be taken.”