2 Indian nationals held in Italy for enslaving 33 countrymen

Rome: Two Indian nationals have been arrested for allegedly enslaving 33 farm labourers, all from India, in Italy's Verona province, according to police, weeks after the country was shocked by the tragic death of a Sikh farm worker.

The police also seized assets worth 475,000 euros from the suspects, who own two agricultural sector companies with no employees on the books and are allegedly total tax evaders.

The two alleged gangmasters are under investigation for crimes, including enslavement and labour exploitation, the police said.

The issue of modern forms of slavery in Italy recently came to the fore of media attention following the case of 31-year-old Sikh farm labourer Satnam Singh, who bled to death after being abandoned by his employer after a strawberry wrapping machine severed his arm in Lazio, near Rome, last month.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last month that Singh, one of thousands of Indian immigrants who work on the fields in the country, was the victim of "inhuman acts".

"These are inhumane acts that do not belong to the Italian people. I hope that this barbarity will be punished harshly," she said following a Cabinet meeting.