Police said today they had rescued three men who were chained up, beaten and starved by loan sharks who held them captive for two months for failing to pay their debts.

"It was like prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The three men had heavy chains around their neck and with one end hooked to a wall," said district police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah.

chained loan shark victims 280509 "They were were just given water and slices of bread. There were bruises on their body indicating that they were beaten," he added.

The men, aged 25, 34 and 49, were targeted for not settling debts of up to RM3,500, he said.

Held in makeshift cells in an unoccupied shoplot, in the same clothes they had worn for the past two months, they reportedly sobbed uncontrollably when police burst in yesterday.

Abdul Rahim said his officers mounted the rescue operation following a tip-off from another man who was also held by the loan sharks but was freed after his RM400 debt was paid.

Easy cash but exorbitant interest

"I am shocked by the action of the loan shark operators," he said, adding that police had arrested three of the unlicensed lenders who could face kidnapping charges which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

"(Loan sharking) is a growing problem in Malaysia. We anticipate that with the current economic downturn, the business of loan shark syndicates will mushroom," he said.

Malaysia has in the past vowed to crack down on loan sharks amid rising complaints of harassment and intimidation of debtors, including attempts to torch their homes.

Many people unable to secure loans from banks and licensed money lenders turn to loan sharks who offer easy cash but impose high compounding interest rates of up to 15 percent per month.