Balasore Police in Odisha busted a major racket involved in sex trade and immoral trafficking of women by arresting 13 persons and rescuing eight women. Sources said that the racket was busted based on a complaint filed by a West Bengal-based NGO about a lady trafficked to Odisha.
On getting the complaint, Balasore Police had formed a team and rescued the victim. A couple, who was allegedly running the sex racket in Basta in Balasore District, has been arrested in connection with the incident. Subsequently, a 28-year-old youth, who had kept the victim and helped in procuring fake identity cards, was also arrested. The youth was also taking money from the illegal business, Balasore SP, Sagarika Nath said.
During investigation, it was found that the victim was sent to multiple areas including Balasore town, and later four more persons were arrested. After being rescued, the victim had revealed about one of her acquaintances who was also trapped.
“After rescuing both the victims, we found that both of them had come to Odisha via West Bengal. Later, we managed to nab a person from 24 Parganas with links to a person from Odisha who is said to be the mastermind. We have found multiple instances of monetary transactions between the duo. We have identified some other persons who are involved in this,” said Nath.
Nath further informed that assistance of multiple agencies including the Crime Branch will be sought as there is involvement of forgery of identification proof and trespassing. A separate case in Foreigners Act and Aadhaar Act will be registered in this regard, the SP added.
“So far, we have rescued two main victims and six other women and busted three rackets including ones at Basta and Singla. Total 13 persons have been arrested in two cases so far,” Nath added.
(Reported by Rashmi)