The City Task Force (CTF) busted a human trafficking racket at a posh hotel on the Beach Road here on Friday. The CTF team, led by SHO G.V. Ramana, raided the hotel and rescued six girls and arrested three persons who were running the racket. The arrested include one Hariprasad, his sister and her friend. The arrested were handed over to the Three Town Police for further investigation.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) Ravi Babu, the trio was running the racket under the guise of providing jobs in gulf countries. Hariparasad, who works as a waiter in a hotel in Abu Dhabi, ganged up with his sister who also works as a dancer in a bar in the same hotel, to export girls to Abu Dhabi as bar dancers. They befriended another dancer in the same bar and decided to lure girls to Abu Dhabi by promising them a monthly salary of Rs. 80,000.
After coming to Visakhapatnam they set up their base in the hotel and with the help of one of the dancers’ brother, who has some connection with the film industry, and were trying to recruit girls as bar dancers and traffic them to Abu Dhabi. Based on a tip-off, the CTF sleuths conducted the raid and arrested the trio. “The accused also arranged passports for the girls,” said Three Town SHO S. Appala Raju.
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According to Ravi Babu, it is still not clear whether they were trying to traffic the girls to work as bar dancers or put them into flesh trade. “But we have booked a case against the trio under Immoral Trafficking Act.”
“Moreover, we have also booked them under Immigration Act, as any overseas job business can be done only after obtaining a licence or permission from Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Emigration,” said Ravi Babu.