Team Herald
ANJUNA: The Anjuna Police busted a sex racket in the wee hours of Thursday and arrested two alleged pimps and rescued five victim girls including a foreign national during the raid.
Anjuna PI Navlesh Dessai and staff of Anjuna police station conducted a raid at a night club at Arpora after receiving information that commercial sex activities were being carried out there.
The raid was carried out at 1 am and the two accused arrested are Santosh Rathod, a 32-year-old native of Karnataka and Manish Sharma (26), a native of Shimla, were arrested for running the activities. Among the five rescued girls one is a foreign national. However, the main accused in this case Shyam Bharti presently staying at Calangute and native of Rajasthan is absconding.
The victim girls have been lodged in State Protective Home, at Merces for safe custody and protection. Both the accused have been remanded on police custody for seven days.
An offence under section 370 (A) (ii) read with Section 34 of IPC & Section 3, 4, 5 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act has been registered.
Anjuna PI Navlesh Dessai is investigating the case.
Police say that Shyam Bharti is a history-sheeter and repeat offender in the said trade. He was recently arrested by crime branch and previously by the Calangute Police. The accused is known to be providing customers for sex and found to be living on the earnings of the victims.
On March 28, the Calangute Police had arrested Shyam Bharti along with five other persons and an offence of cheating, extortion, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy against tourists was registered against them.
Tourists were brought to the club on the pretext of supplying girls and thereafter they were threatened with assault and made to go away thereby cheating them to the tune of Rs 28,000.
