A group of men and women from Melur lodged a complaint with the district police seeking their intervention in early repatriation of four of their relatives who were kept “under trying conditions” in Algeria.
In her complaint, V. Senthamarai, wife of Viswanthan, said her husband and three others from Melur were approached by a local travel agent, who promised to send them to Algeria for construction work.
All the four paid Rs. 1.50 lakh each to a travel agent, Narayanasamy of Chennai, through the local agent, Ilakkian, they said in the complaint.
The four labourers flew to Algeria from New Delhi on December 31, 2014. “Till date, they have not been paid the promised salary. The agents had not briefed the workers on the extreme climatic condition there. As a result, they were suffering under biting cold,” one of the complainants said.
Out of the 40 persons who went to Algeria from Tamil Nadu, they took seven persons to a different destination last week and their whereabouts were not known, the labourers informed their family members over phone, the complainant said.
The villagers sought action against the travel agents for the sufferings of their loved ones.
