Team Herald
PANJIM: The Crime Branch of Goa Police has arrested a 41-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly creating an escort website.
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According to the police, the accused, identified as Yogesh Kumar from Ghaziabad, has been charged under Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, Section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, and Sections 4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITP Act).
The police seized the CPU used by the accused and brought him to Goa after taking him into custody.
This is the third arrest in the case, the police stated. Two others were apprehended earlier on 10 November from Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh. These individuals were identified as Syed Usman, 54, from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, and Mohammad Mohebbulla, 30, from Gurgaon, Haryana.
Police sources stated that the other main accused Aman and Jitender are on the run and their location is being shown as Delhi while that of Rahul alias Vijay is showing in Vihar, Gujarat.
The role of a police constable is also under scanner as the websites were being operated in the premises registered in the name of his wife at Calangute.
A police officer on condition of anonymity stated the call details on the cell phones seized from the accused will spill the beans as the last call was made by Rahul to the cop after he managed to elude the police the day Usman was arrested.
The accused had created an escort website, https://www.safewalkgoa.com, and uploaded obscene photographs of women. They also provided a contact number on the website, which was used by customers. Upon confirmation from customers, the accused coordinated with other agents to finalise transactions.
The website www.safewalkgoa.com, which the police claimed they had taken down, is still operational – it now redirects to a different website https://www.vipescortingoa.com , which offers the same services as the other one.
Investigations revealed that the accused facilitated these services by fixing deals, with customers making payments via cash, Google Pay, or the Paytm mobile application. The accused earned commissions for their involvement.
It was further discovered that the accused operated similar escort service websites in Bengaluru, Chennai, and other major cities across India.
The investigation is ongoing to identify additional individuals involved in the network.
Sources in the police stated that the arrests were made only after the no-nonsense SP Rahul Gupta spearheaded the campaign to crackdown on the illegal flesh trade in the State.
The case is being handled by PI Dattaram Raut under the supervision of DySP Rajesh Kumar and SP (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta.
