Chennai, June 1 (IANS) MDMK general secretary Vaiko has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intercede with the US government on behalf of 500 Indian immigrant workers seeking action against an American company for alleged exploitation. The workers have alleged they were lured to the US on false promises of permanent residency by Signal International, a Mississipi-based marine construction company, and were forced to live under inhuman conditions, a charge the company has denied.

A copy of Vaiko’s letter to the PM was released to the press here Sunday.

Saying that the young men “were duped by an recruiting agency in Mumbai with the promise of getting them jobs in the US”, Vaiko pointed out that each of them had paid Rs.600,000 to the recruiting company in 2006.

Vaiko said that a group of these workers met Indian Ambassador Ronan Sen May 25 and requested help from the embassy.

“But the ambassador told them that he was ‘not aware’ of their memorandum, submitted to the embassy 15 days ago. This only shows the callous attitude of the ambassador towards the plight of Indian citizens,” Vaiko alleged.