HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, DEC 26
Goa police late on Saturday night bust international sex racket run by two male friends at Dona Paula. Panjim police rescued four girls including a minor and arrested two suspected pimps.
Nandish Gawda from Bangalore and Hanumant Ram Patil from Rajasthan, both 25 years of age were arrested red-handed while striking a deal with a decoy customer. The rescued girls, in their mid-20s and a minor, hailing from Nepal and Mumbai have been remanded to Protective Home at Merces.
Acting on tip-off, Panjim police led by Inspector Sandesh Chodankar laid a trap where the suspected pimps along with the girls were waiting for their customer in a Tata Indica car near Manipal Hospital.
The planted decoy struck a deal of Rs 25,000 in exchange for girls for a night. While the process of payment was being made, the police team caught the suspected pimps red-handed and seized the amount.
“The girls were brought from Bangalore to Ponda and later to Panjim for the purpose of flesh trade,” said a police officer.
Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panjim remanded the accused to one-day police custody.
“The girls in their statements have said that they were lured of a job in Goa but were forced into prostitution. Investigation is at preliminary stage…We are probing on whether the two operated a gang under the garb of recruitment,” he said.
