Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Anti Human Traffic Unit (AHTU) arrested two persons, Mekala Akhil Kumar and Suresh Boina, for running an online women escort service that was a cover for organised prostitution. Akhil Kumar, a native of Khammam district, ran the racket in Madhapur, Panjagutta and other areas and was responsible for forcing over 500 victims from different states into prostitution during the past four years, police said.
The accused posted pictures of the victims and their own contact numbers on escort websites and Whatsapp and targeted aged customers. During interrogation the duo confessed that they along with two women, who are absconding, pushed victims from West Bengal, Maharashtra and Delhi into the sex trade.
Dara Kavitha, DCP, Cyberabad, woman's safety wing, said Akhil Kumar had met Boina and another suspect, Deepak Roy, who is absconding, at a Gachibowli pub in 2019 — both were arrested earlier in a prostitution case. Boina of Zaharanagar Basti, Banjara Hills, was working as assistant director with a well-known Telugu director, the DCP said. Boina used to rent flats and organise the prostitution business.
The AHTU team identified some of the websites in which the victim’s details were shown and have asked for them to be taken down. Police said four websites had obliged while three were not active.
