SIALKOT: The police recovered on Sunday a chained worker being subjected to forced labour with his legs chained at a garment manufacturing unit in a raid in Chitti Sheikhaan locality.

According to the police, the worker, Sadaqat Ali (34), had borrowed Rs200,000 from the factory owners, Zulfiqar Butt and his brother Sarfraz Butt, but could not return the money.

The annoyed factory owners chained the worker’s legs and forced him to work round the clock. They told him that he would be freed when his “wages” would equal the borrowed amount.

On a tip-off, a team of Muradpur police raided the unit in the city’s congested Chitti Sheikhaan locality and recovered the chained worker.

The police also arrested one of the factory owners, Sarfraz Butt, while the other suspect, Zulfiqar Butt, managed to escape.

The victim told the police the suspects had been detaining him illegally for the last one and a half months. He said he was forced to work with his legs chained as a punishment for not returning the borrowed money.

According to police, a case has been registered (No 22/2017) under sections 34, 342, 348 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 12 of Labour Act against the two suspects on the report of Riasat Ali, father of Sadaqat Ali.

Published in Dawn January 16th, 2017