Ludhiana, May 24: TWO girls, 18-year-old Mohini and 25-year-old Sarita, were ‘‘rescued’’ from alleged captivation at the Jatinder Gambhir Hospital here today. The girls were reportedly being forced to work as maids at the hospital.

In a raid conducted under the supervision of SDM West, M S Jaggi, the two girls were ‘‘freed’’, and provided a month’s salary and travelling allowance to return to Delhi from where they had come.

According to reports, both the girls had been placed in this hospital by a Delhi-based agency called N D Placement Service. In her statement to the SDM, Mohini, who hails from Assam, said: ‘‘I have been working with this family for nearly two years. I was promised a monthly salary of Rs 2,200 for cooking food. But till date, I have got only Rs 6,800.’’

She further alleged that she was not allowed to go out. ‘‘Only recently did this family begin giving me permission for Sunday Mass or shopping. And then too I was scolded if I was late,’’ she claimed.

Sarita, who belongs to Jharkhand, recounted a similar story. ‘‘I came here about four months back. I was also promised a monthly salary of Rs 2,200 but have got only Rs 1,500 so far,’’ she said.

But the hospital’s owners, Dr A P S Ghambhir and Dr Jatinder Ghambhir, told a different story. ‘‘There is a man named Narayan who operates with us on behalf of this agency. He has been placing people with us for over two years now. Each time he brings in a maid, we enter into a contract and personally ask them whether they want to work or not,’’ they claimed.

‘‘Narayan has taken a major part of their salaries from us, and we owe nothing to them. As for not allowing the girls to go outside, we did that for their security only. After all, they are under our care,’’ they said.