KOCHI: The rural areas of the district have become a soft target for sex rackets that bring in girls from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh, say police. Officers have collected details of such a gang after a woman hailing from MP was rescued from Kalady. Police started exploring the human trafficking angle further after visuals of several girls, the majority of them from other states, were collected from the mobile phones of the gang memebrs.
The investigators received evidence that the flesh trade racket was operating in other parts of the district as well without triggering any suspicions. They bring in girls from other states to evade complaints or cases. The girls are only paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 once they are trapped. Residents, who grew suspicious over the functioning of a hotel at Mattoor junction, Kalady, alerted the police. This led to the arrest of the gang.
The racket was allegedly run by Ebin, 33, from Mookkannoor in Angamaly. Jagan, 24, from Kollam; Noyal, 21, from Vengoor, Angamaly; Dhanesh, 29, from Payyannur; and Sudheesh, 36, from Rayamangalam are the other accused. Sudheesh and Dhaneesh ran the hotel and arranged the facilities for customers.
Police claim that members of the racket had links with inter-state woman trafficking gangs that supply women even to the to hotel rooms, for Rs 12,000 per customer. The accused were using social media platforms to communicate with potential customers and fix the date, girls, and rates.
“The investigation team received crucial information while examining the mobile phones of one of the accused. The police will approach the court on Wednesday to seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation,” said a police officer. “A detailed investigation is underway. The special investigation team will interrogate the accused after taking them into custody,” said K Karthick, Rural SP.