Team Herald
MAPUSA: In a major breakthrough, Calangute police busted a high profile prostitution racket and arrested seven persons including three pimps and rescued two victim girls on Thursday.
PI Jivba Dlavi said that during a raid conducted late night on Wednesday, police arrested seven persons including three pimps namely Santosh Kumar Kar, a native of Orissa, Yaman Arora, a native of Haryana and Rim Bahaduroli, a native of Nepal and four customers namely Jobin John, Sunny Thomas, Chackochan Joseph and Jose P Goes, all natives of Kerala.
Dalvi disclosed that he received information that two girls are being delivered by three pimps in Calangute area. Accordingly, he formed a team and camped outside Casa Ray Ann hotel at Naikawado in Calangute. He had also called in an NGO member Andrea Pereira of Savera.
As the police team was waiting, two girls were brought at the spot in a car by the three pimps. Later, two of the pimps took the two girls into the hotel and delivered them to the clients.
Calangute police then immediately detained the three pimps and interrogated them on the spot wherein they confessed to operating a sex racket and that the two girls were delivered on the first floor of hotel.
The police team then raided the Casa Ray Ann hotel and rescued the two girls and also detained four customers.
The two victim girls are native of Mumbai. They were produced before the Sub Divisional Magistrate who sent them to protective home at Merces.
During the investigation it was also revealed that the whole first floor of Casa Ray Ann Hotel was being used for sex activities. Calangute police immediately sealed the hotel on the spot. Police also moved a letter to the Calangute Panchayat for cancelling of establishment trade licence and also to Tourism Department to revoke the tourism department licence of the owner.
On further questioning, police learnt that pimp Santosh Kumar had earlier been arrested twice for sex trafficking by Calangute and Margao police.
Calangute police have attached the car used for transporting the girls, cash of Rs 70,000, nine mobile phones and other incriminating evidences. All the accused are booked under Section 370, 370(3) R/w 34 IPC and Section 3, 4, 5 and 7 of Immoral Trafficking (prevention) Act.
