3 arrested for sex trafficking, two girls rescued at Calangute

MAPUSA: Calangute Police arrested a pimp and two customers and rescued two girls -- a foreign national and a minor.

According to Calangute police, in a raid conducted near a hotel at Naikawado in Calangute, they arrested the pimp Uttam Behera, a native of Jagatsinghpur in Orisa and two customers, namely, one Deepkumar Verma and Prakash Vaidynathan, both natives of Gurgaon in Harayana. Police also rescued two girls in the raid.

Police said that one of rescued girls is a foreign nationalist and other is a minor. During the investigation it was also revealed Behera provided the minor girl with a fake ID card to hide her actual age, but police successfully attached original ID card of the girl where in it revealed that she is a minor.

Calangute police have also attached a car bearing, a motorcycle, six mobile phones and some cash. 

Both the rescued girls have been sent to protective home for safe custody. Police also said that, earlier, the accused pimp was arrested twice by the crime branch for similar crimes.

Calangute police have booked the arrested persons under Sections 370, 370(3), 370-A, 420 read with 34 of IPC; Section 4, 5 & 7 of Immoral Trafficking Act; Section 8(2) of Goa Children’s Act and Section 8 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act. 

The Calangute police team was led by PI Jivba Dalvi and consisted of PSIs Videsh Pilgaonkar, Mahesh Naik, Kirtidas Gaude, Sitaram Malik, Head Constable Subhash Malvankar, constables Francis, Sameer Naik, Swapnil, Shreyas and NGO member Andrea Pereira of Savera.