Despite arrests, business brisk on GB Road: Panel

NEW DELHI: Days after eight people were arrested for allegedly running a brothel on GB Road, Delhi Commission for Women chief visited the area and found that recent

NEW DELHI: Days after eight people were arrested for allegedly running a brothel on GB Road, Delhi Commission for Women chief visited the area and found that recent arrests made little difference to business in the area.

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Panel chairperson Swati Maliwal Jaihind and other members visited the brothels on GB Road late Sunday night.

“The commission was shocked to note that each brothel was thronged by hundreds of drunk boys, several of them in their early teens. The commission learnt many boys visiting these brothels were students of some of the best universities in Delhi ,” DCW officials said.

The DC W team found there were illegal constructions everywhere. “These tehkhanas (hidden cells) are used by brothel owners to hide minor girls. We have been repeatedly requesting the MCD to demolish these tehkhanas but in vain ,” said the team.

Officials said the local police informed them there were few streetlights in the area and demanded high-definition CCTV cameras be set up to aid policing. The commission then made this demand to the PWD and the MCD, officials said.

“GB Road is 3 km away from Parliament. Still criminal activities continue here. Every other day, minor girls are sold and brutalised,” Maliwal said.

The team said the police should identify the brothel owners and find their links with police officials and politicians and punish the guilty. “We have been regularly meeting the police, the government and the MCD to identify the brothel owners,” said officials.

The crime branch last week arrested a couple and six of their associates for allegedly running an “organised syndicate” and trafficking 5,000 girls.