The Bulgarian citizen, who was returned from Greece in the beginning of August in a state of extreme starvation and exhaustion, has finally been able to offer an explanation.

Kadir Mehmed told the largest private TV channel bTV he had been kept captive over a debt of BGN 2 000 which he owed his employer.

The information was reported Friday by the Bulgarian 24 Chassa (24 Hours) daily.

Mehmed said he went to Bulgaria's southern neighboring country in search for work and found a job as a shepherd for a monthly wage of BGN 600. There had been a condition though – give part of the money to his boss for providing work for him. He was taken "hostage" over delayed payments.

The man, who lost half of his weight, is being treated for a second week now and is recovering in a social home in the southern town of Simitli. He is already able to eat and move.

Mehmed further says he was kept tied in a dungeon with five other individuals. He denies being drunk and hit by a car. He is yet to be visited by a relative.

Meanwhile, the Blagoevgrad correspondent of the BGNES news agency reported that Mehdmed has named Sali Mehmeddzheli, from the Bulgarian Black Sea city in Varna as the person, who held him in captivity and without food since April.

Kadir says Mehmeddzhali is the person who found him the job in Greece and hired him.

In the first week of August, Kadir Mehmed, 34, was returned by Greek authorities to Bulgaria and transferred to the Blagoevgrad hospital, where doctors found he was in an especially undernourished condition.

Initial unofficial information has it the man had been discovered helpless near the Greek town of Drama, and had been sent to a Greek hospital.

The starved Kadir's at the time offered muffled explanations on how he had been kept in captivity along with three other Bulgarians after they went to Greece to look for work. All four managed to escape with Kadir being the last one.

According to the Greek Embassy to Bulgaria, which issued an official statement, Mehmed had been administered to a hospital in Greece after having been hit by a car while inebriated on July 6 2011 and had received "proper treatment."

However, Dr. Alexander Kostov from the Blagoevgrad hospital has stated that there is no conclusive evidence of the man having been recently treated.

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