PESHAWAR, May 26: Bailiffs on Saturday recovered 39 bonded labourers from the alleged illegal confinement during a raid on a Hayatabad Industrial Estate factory.

However, the factory’s owner, Mian Imran, fled. Additional district and sessions judge, Asad Hameed Bangash had appointed Sifatullah, Azmat Khan and Nizar Ahmad bailiffs for the raid after a labourer’s relative filed a habeas corpus petition with him, accusing the factory’s owner of torturing and provided little food to the labourers for the last three days.

Most labourers were in bad shape, while some had marks of torture on their bodies.

All the 39 labourers belonged to Pindi Battian area in Punjab and were hired by the owner of the factory, where plastic mats are made. Most of them were aged between 15 and 35 years.

One of the bailiffs said it took them several hours to recover labourers as the factory was very spacious and that they were put in different rooms.

Some labourers told reporters that they were given very little to eat on the first day of their confinement and on the next two days, they were given nothing to eat.

According to them, around eight years ago, their services were hired by the owner of the factory. From the very first day, his attitude was very harsh towards them, but as all of them belonged to poor families, they were not in a position to leave the job.

The labourers said a few days ago, they protested the attitude of the owner as he had increased violence against them and for that purpose, he had reserved a room in the factory.

They said when they asked Mian Imran that they wanted to leave the job, he beat them up with sticks before detaining them.

The labourers also alleged that the factory’s owner had taken away their national identity cards, cellphones and money to prevent their escape. They claimed that they were forced to work at gunpoint as his armed guards always remained with them and that they were made to work for 12 hours a day.

The bailiffs said one labourer was burnt with hot iron rod and the signs were visible on his body.

An official at the relevant Hayatabad police station told Dawn that they had recorded the statements of the recovered labourers for registration of an FIR against the owner of the factory.

He added that some labourers had been undergoing medical examination and once that was done to learn about injuries on their bodies, the relevant sections of PPC would be added to the FIR.