67 women rescued from bar run by tabloid owner: Madhya Pradesh police

The police swung into action after a complaint was filed on Saturday by Indore Nagar Nigam engineer Harbhajan Singh, also a complainant in the state’s high-profile extortion racket scandal that surfaced in September.

Updated on: Dec 3, 2019, 03:44:30 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Shruti Tomar

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The Madhya Pradesh police on Monday formed six teams and announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for anyone who would help them catch a tabloid owner accused of human trafficking and blackmail. The police raided several premises linked to the owner, Jeetendra Soni, over the weekend and rescued 67 women from a hotel he allegedly ran, according to an official.

Police raided several premises linked to the owner, Jeetendra Soni, over the weekend and rescued 67 women from a hotel he allegedly ran (HT file)

“The rescued women, mostly residents of West Bengal and north-eastern states, complained that they were victims of human trafficking,” said Indore senior superintendent of police Ruchi Vardhan Mishra. “The police also recovered documents of at least 30 properties worth Rs 150 crore and 36 live cartridges of a non-licensed firearm from the residence of Soni. The hotel is owned by Jeetendra Soni and his son, Amit Soni,” Mishra said.

Amit Soni was arrested on Sunday, and on Monday a court sent him to police custody till December 6.

According to the police, after the raids, the office of his daily publication, Sanjha Lokswami, were sealed.

The police swung into action after a complaint was filed on Saturday by Indore Nagar Nigam engineer Harbhajan Singh, also a complainant in the state’s high-profile extortion racket scandal that surfaced in September.

The engineer alleged that Jeetendra Soni was blackmailing him after publishing his photographs with one of the extortion racket accused in his tabloid.

Jeetendra Soni also recently published a purported telephonic conversation between a former minister, a retired bureaucrat and two persons in the extortion gang, which was busted with the arrest of six people.

The gang allegedly targeted politicians and bureaucrats, and blackmailed them to bag lucrative contracts.

The Indore Press Club contended the raids were conducted as Soni’s paper published stories that made powerful people uncomfortable. His family members did not talk to the media

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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