Hyderabad: 14k rescued in prostitution-racket bust, 17 accused arrested

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 7 : Hyderabad Police have busted a notorious organized gang of prostitution racket and rescued 14,190 women including foreigners from across the country.
As many as 17 people have been arrested in connection to the case, the police said on Wednesday.
Officials said that the rescued victims are from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Assam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Russia etc.
The arrested accused have been identified as Salman, Shailendra Prasad, Jogeswar Rao, Mohd Afsar, Irfan, Adeem, Sameer, Harbhinder Kaur, Adeem, SofinPatel, Saibabu Goud, Gangadhari, Sai Sudheer, Sarbeshwar Rout among others.
Officials said that the accused were arrested in multiple raids carried out by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of Cyberabad Police in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other places in the last two months.
The raids were carried out on the basis of information received through sources, they said.
Officials said that the accused during the interrogation, revealed they were running an organized sex racket and brought victims from different places across India. They would post ads on websites, contact customers through call centres and WhatsApp, and even arrange hotels and collect money for this organized prostitution.
"People from different states were also involved in the racket. They would form different WhatsApp groups subject-wise, like organizers, suppliers, ad makers, website, and call centre people, and communicate with each other for the business," said officials, while adding that the accused dragged most of the victims into prostitution by luring them with a luxurious lifestyle, easy money and in some cases, in the pretext of providing jobs.
Of the money collected from the clients, 30 per cent was given to the victims, 35 per cent was commission to advertisers and call centres person, and 35 per cent of the money went to the organizers.
The organizers used to deal with other organizers also, and take a commission from their clients accordingly, they pointed out.
"The accused Adeem, Sameer, Salman, Arnav, Salman, Mohd Afsar, and Jogeshwar are among the main organizers, and were running the racket for up to 16 years or more, forcing thousands of victims into prostitution," said officials.
A case of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and other relevant sections has been registered against the accused, and the police were further investigating the case.