From freedom to accountability: a former BAPS temple worker's ongoing fight for justice in the US

Eight years after arriving for work at a BAPS temple site in Robbinsville, New Jersey, Indian migrant workers—many from Dalit communities—allege confinement, passport seizures and severe underpayment. A 2021 FBI raid led to the rescue of over 100 workers and a class-action lawsuit against BAPS. The DOJ dropped the criminal case in 2025, while a civil wage-theft suit continues. Many workers have returned to India, but one man, Rajeev, remains in the US to push for accountability, insisting he will never work for BAPS again.