Lucknow, Dec 5 (IANS): The NHRC has issued a notice to the district magistrate of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and the state labour commissioner following media reports that 50 bonded labourers were rescued from a brick kiln in a village, officials said Friday.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report citing the rescue of these bonded labourers from Sinhar village in the state.

The labourers, all from Bihar, were found in the brick kiln Dec 2.

The kiln owner did not pay the minimum wages to them, it was found during a raid by labour department officials, a communique from the NHRC said Friday. It quoted Additional Labour Commissioner Pankaj Singh Rana as saying that the number of labourers could be more.

The NHRC has sought a response from the state government within a fortnight, detailing the number of labourers rescued and the monetary relief and rehabilitation provided to them.