A Bangladeshi, who was trafficked to | South Africa around a month ago, was rescued and sent back home on Saturday night, said a Rab press release yesterday.

The victim is Mohit Mollah, 23, a mason of Faridpur.

In the release, Rab said Mohit's mother Anwara Begum recently complained to Rab-3, saying that her son was held hostage by criminals in South Africa and they were threatening her to kill Mohit unless a hefty ransom was given to them.

Rab officials on Wednesday arrested two alleged traffickers Sajib and Belayet from the capital who admitted that they had been involved in trafficking Bangladeshis into South Africa and Mozambique for long and Mohit was held by a gang of Pakistanis and Africans, it added.

Interrogating the two, Rab officials came to know the exact location of Mohit.

Rab then informed Bangladesh embassy officials in South Africa about this through the expatriates' welfare ministry, and the embassy officials rescued Mohit and sent him back home.

Talking to Rab yesterday, Mohit said Sajib had promised that he would send him to South Africa with a job of Tk 40,000 a month in exchange forTk 7 lakh, the release said.

As Mohit agreed to the proposal, Sajib asked him to come to Dhaka. After a few days, Mohit was sent to Mozambique from where he was taken to several places by traffickers until he was taken to South Africa and kept there.

The traffickers tortured Mohit and forced him to call his parents and ask Tk 7 lakh from them as ransom.