Bengaluru:14 women rescued from flesh trade

Bengaluru: The sleuths of the women and narcotics squad of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) have busted an organised human trafficking racket and rescued 14 women, who were forced into flesh trade. The police have arrested eight people, including two women, in this connection.

The accused have been identified as Deepu Mandal alias Amith, 35, Soumen Roy, 27, Tarun Ghosh, 45, Sujit Sarkar, 30, Achintya Majumdar, Sanjay Sil, 38, Sorab Ali, 24, and Josna Mondal, 30, all hailing from West Bengal.

According to the police, they received credible tip off that a few women, who were victims of human trafficking, were kept under wrongful restraint at five residential buildings in Ejipura in Viveknagar police station limits. Following a tip off, the police raided the buildings on Wednesday and rescued 14 women, one of them a Bangladesh national, while others hailed from West Bengal.

"Investigation revealed that the women, who were initially promised jobs, were trafficked and brought to the city, where they were kept under wrongful restraint. Later, they were forced into flesh trade by sending them to work in some massage parlours that offer sex to customers. Besides, the accused also ran prostitution racket and contacted customers through social networking sites. They also sent the photographs of the victims and helped customers choose women," an official said.

"We suspect a larger gang behind the racket and it could be spread across states. The accused were involved in organised human trafficking from the last six years and used fake ID cards and documents for trafficking victims," the police added.