Team Herald
PANJIM: An event organiser has been brought to Goa a week after his arrest in Bihar for allegedly circulating poster inviting people for a nude party at Morjim. Hs arrest came after a massive manhunt by a specially constituted Goa Police team.
Thirty-year-old Armaan Mehta, who was arrested from his native place in Katihar, Bihar on September 22, is also being probed for human trafficking. A First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the nude party poster under section 67 of the IT Act and Indecent Representation of Women Act has already been registered against him.
The Crime Branch, investigating the case, said that Mehta tried to lure people through the offensive poster in a bid to recover losses in his business. “He has been working with his friends in organising events and parties in New Delhi. He used to arrange girls from his contacts to participate in parties. Initially, he made some money but later his business declined due to his habits of drinking, smoking and spending (expenditure) on his girlfriends,” said Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Pankaj Kumar Singh.
Reeling under money scarcity and unemployment for six months, Mehta tried to float a poster claiming to organise nude pool parties in Goa where he had once visited with his friends October last year. Singh said that accused downloaded few pictures from the internet, edited them using a mobile app and circulated through social media. He however panicked and switched his phone off after he began receiving inquiries from India and abroad.
“His role from the human trafficking angle is also being probed and police custody is obtained for interrogation,” the IPS officer added.
Married with two children, the accused had been in hiding after Goa Police booked an offense in the case. A team was specially constituted consisting of deputy superintendent of police, police inspectors, head constable and two constables. They were sent to Delhi and Bihar based on leads through technical analysis. “The accused had not only switched off his mobile but also changed his location at various places in West Bengal and Bihar. He had told his girlfriend that he was going to Dehradum. Several teams were sent to various parts of the country to trace him. After a massive hunt, he was arrested from Bihar and gadgets sealed for investigation,” the officer revealed.
