Bernama reported immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban as saying the 10.40am operation involved teams from the immigration headquarters in Putrajaya.

Zakaria said the 33-year-old victim was brought to the workers’ quarters at the construction site by two fellow Bangladeshi nationals under the pretext of discussing a job offer, but was subsequently mistreated.

“The victim claimed he was confined and closely monitored by the two suspects, aged 29 and 36.

“He also alleged that he was physically assaulted and abused, and that the two suspects had taken his passport and mobile phone.

“Following a thorough inspection and search, the operation team recovered the victim’s belongings and several personal documents from the suspects,” he said today.

Zakaria said 85 foreign nationals, comprising Bangladeshis, Indonesians and Vietnamese, were also detained in the same operation for various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63.

He said the department had conducted inspections on 46,790 people between January and April 2 this year, with 19,361 detained for various offences under the Immigration Act.

“During the same period, we also detained 448 employers suspected of illegally protecting workers,” he said.