Abhiram Samal

Kendrapara, May 19: Abhiram Samal of Gobindapur believes that he is alive because of God’s grace. The 28-year-old, who used to work in a factory in Angola, said: “I never thought that I would be able to see my motherland again.”

The cement plant at Sumbe, which employs 1,800 people, including 1,000 Indians, had been ill-treating its underpaid workers for some time. However, the horror story of Indian workers began on April 9, when they congregated at the plant’s administrative office for peaceful picketing, demanding timely payment of wages and overtime.

“I was there at the protest meeting. All of a sudden, the employers let loose armed police on us. Bullets rained and we ran for our lives. Soon we found ourselves in a dense forest. For two days, we wandered in the forest, surviving on wild roots. We drank stream water,” recalled Samal, who is one of the two lucky Odias workers to have escaped.

After returning from the forest they were arrested by Angolan police and dumped in jail. Their passports and visas were impounded. “I was lucky to have been spared such fate. I thank the Indian embassy officials, who ensured our safe return. I was picked out from the list of stranded Indian workers. I was among the 46 Indians, who returned to the country following government’s prompt intervention,” he said.

Expressing concern over plight of the Odia workers, chief minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to external affairs minister S. M. Krishna, urging him to initiate steps for providing free passage to those Odias, who want to return to India without any harassment.

Naveen said the Odia workers had been implicated on false criminal charges and were being harassed.He said: “Their lawful wages should be paid to them and other workmen benefits extended.”

Sanjay Behera, from Kasanata village in the Pattamundai tehsil area of Kendrapara, also went through a similar ordeal in the Sumbe .

State’s labour minister Puspendra Singhdeo said all steps were being taken to provide assistance to the Odias locked in Angola.

Condemning the attack, Kendrapara MP Bailayant Panda also wrote a letter to the external affairs minister.