Baghdad, Apr 29 (IANS): Iraqi security forces freed 44 Bangladeshi citizens who had been held captive in Baghdad for two months and arrested six of their abductors, authorities said on Monday.

According to a statement by the Supreme Judicial Council, the Bangladeshi Embassy in Iraq informed the authorities about a suspected house in Karrada district where the Bangladeshi citizens were being held and the abductors were blackmailing their families for ransom.

The security forces raided the house and rescued 44 Bangladeshi citizens who had come to Baghdad for job opportunities, Xinhua news agency reported.

The six arrested abductors were four Bangladeshis and two Iraqis. Authorities were still looking for three others including two more 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 labour office for foreign workers in Iraq, it said, adding that the freed Bangladeshi citizens had been handed over to the Bangladeshi Embassy.