Team Herald
MARGAO: The Crime Branch, assisted by an NGO, rescued a girl and arrested three persons, including a woman, after busting a sex racket at the Margao SGPDA market on Tuesday evening.
According to police sources, the Crime Branch had made arrangements for a large police force as it anticipated that more people would be arrested or rescued. The police had been working on this operation for the last two days and decided to set a trap on Tuesday. They also took the help of an NGO for the entire operation. Decoy customers called the agents and booked two girls. The rates were between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, and bookings could be made on the phone or via the internet. Police sources stated that the agents may have suspected something and tried to flee, which is why the Crime Branch team, led by Police Inspector Dattaguru Sawant, rescued only one girl.
The three arrested persons are Minag Gamadar (23) from Navelim, Gaby Fernandes (22) from Seraulim and Francisco Rodrigues (44) from Nuvem. The Crime Branch has also attached two Activa scooters.
The raid comes on the backdrop of demands from NGOs to crackdown on prostitution rackets and to target the source of the operations. Auda Viegas of Bailancho Ekvott had called for a thorough investigation into such activities across the State.
