Online flesh trade on the rise in Vijayawada city

About 30 persons held in separate cases; police in the dark about the network

Online prostitution cases, which are on the rise in the Capital Region, have become challenge for the police to crack.

The criminals, who developed network with their counterparts in the neighbouring States, are allegedly bringing minor girls and women and are trafficking girls to different places from Vijayawada and other places. Surprisingly, the local police are in the dark about the online prostitution, and booked cases only when the victims approached them. Police arrested about 30 persons in just three cases and a few more are still in absconding.

The

modus operandi of the accused is to from groups in social media sites, trap poor women and sex workers and send them to different states.

“The organiser in Kolkata will send the photographs, age and other particulars of the girls to the organisers in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other cities. The head of the gang will select the girl, arrange for boarding and lodging, prepare the list of customers and do the business. Later, he will contact the organiser of other State through the social media sites and send the victim to other States,” a police officer, who is investigating the case, said.

In 17-year-old Pinky case (name changed), police arrested about 19 persons and four more have to be arrested. In another case which was registered recently, police arrested seven persons and about 15 are at large. In the two cases, the victims were from West Bengal.

“In a minor trafficking case, police raided on a prostitution den and arrested four persons in Visakhapatnam district. Some realtors, traders and others were among those arrested. The organiser was collecting Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 25,000 from one person, gives some amount to the victim by hand or through online transactions” an investigation officer said.

Speaking to The Hindu , City Police Commissioner D. Gautam Sawang said the police busted the online prostitution rackets and registered about six cases in the last few months.

The investigation officers are trying to know on how many were involved in the flesh trade by seizing the mobile phones from the victims and the accused.

“The accused had network in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha and other States.

“We are getting more leads in these cases. The city police are trying to maintain a vigil at the railway station as trafficking of girls and sex workers are being transported through trains,” Mr. Sawang said.