BAGHDAD, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces freed 44 Bangladeshi citizens who were held captive in Baghdad for two months, and arrested six of their abductors, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) said Monday.
According to an SJC statement, the Bangladeshi Embassy in Iraq informed the authorities of a suspected house in Karrada district where the Bangladeshi citizens were being held and the abductors were blackmailing their families in Bangladesh for ransoms.
The security forces later raided the house and rescued 44 Bangladeshi citizens who originally came to Baghdad for job opportunities.
The six arrested abductors are four Bangladeshis and two Iraqis, as the authorities are still looking for three others including two Bangladeshis.
"The abductors were caught red-handed in the house, where the captives were physically tortured and detained for two months," the SJC statement said.
The abductors were running a labor office for foreign workers in Iraq, it said, adding the freed Bangladeshi citizens had been handed over to the Bangladeshi embassy.
