2 more held in sex racket case, international links suspected

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The online sex racket involving ‘Kiss of Love’  fame Rahul Pasupalan   had links up to Mumbai and even abroad, according to the police.

Two more persons, including Joshi, 57, of Kozhikode,  an accused in the Paravoor sex case,  and his aide Anoop, an employee with a new generation bank in Kochi, were  arrested from Kochi during the wee hours of Monday.

Police sources said that Joshi,  known among the racketeers as ‘Achayan,’ had published his phone number on Locanto website and used to supply women, including minors, to clients. The police got a clue about his identity on interrogating Rahul Pasupalan and others.   

Anoop used to assist Joshi who was computer illiterate. Both were brought to Cyber Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram by Monday evening for interrogation. The involvement of Joshi's son was also suspected.

Meanwhile, all the 12 accused  recently arrested and remanded in connection with the online sex trade and pornography cases were handed over to police custody for evidence collection by a local court here.

On their way to the court, Rahul and another key accused Abdul Khader alias Akbar told the media that they were wrongly implicated in the case with the connivance of those in power.

While Rahul said that he was trapped, Akbar said that he would reveal the 'truth' once he was out on bail.

Seeking the custody of the accused, the government pleader said that digital evidence like SMS and e-mail messages of the accused showed that the gang had links up to Mumabi. 

It was also suspected that they were involved in human and sex trafficking. The nexus of the gang with similar gangs operating from other states and even outside the country was also suspected.

While the six accused in the online sex trade case, including Rahul and Reshmi Nair, were handed over to police custody till November  30, the six held in connection with the social media account  ‘kochusundarikal’ that promoted child pornography were handed over to police custody till  November 26.

Meanwhile, the parents of the sisters, including a minor girl, rescued from the gang filed a petition in the court seeking their release. The petition will be considered only on November 3

 

 

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