Man, mother found chained at their house

Nirmal Singh (45) and his mother Jaswinder Kaur were found shackled at their residence at Madhir village in Gidderbaha Assembly segment here. They were rescued by local residents on Thursday.

Nirmal’s wife, son and daughter also live in the same house. The villagers alleged that inhuman treatment was meted out to them at the behest of a commission agent who had lent money to Nirmal.

Nirmal alleged, “I had borrowed Rs 45,000 from commission agent Darshan Singh. He held me captive since October 13 and later tied me with chains. I was even ready to repay the money.”

However, commission agent Darshan Singh’s son Harman Singh said, “We have no role in shackling him at his residence. When other family members are living there, how can we tie him there? Nirmal had borrowed Rs 75,000 from us. He had even started working for us to repay the borrowed amount.”

“One day, he was caught stealing a mobile phone. Later, he was caught in another theft case. We sent him back home a few days ago. His wife and relatives restrained him with a chain. He used to drink and quarrel with his wife and children, and his mother supported him. Thus, both were tied with chains by the family itself. We are being blamed without any fault,” he said.