Rise from slums to luxury villas: Bhopal sex racket shocker and arrest of two sisters

The racket came to light after two women approached the police on Sunday alleging that they had been pushed into sex trade on pretext of job.

A sex and drug racket has come to fore from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal after two women approached the police alleging that they had been raped by multiple people in the city as well as Mumbai and Gujarat on pretext of job opportunities and accommodation.

Three of the six accused in the Bhopal sex racket case have been held, while three others are absconding. (Hindustan Times)

The two women, a 21-year-old from Chhattisgarh and a 30-year-old from Bhopal, approached the police station on Sunday night, HT earlier reported. While the two women approached the police separately, their accounts to the police and before the court were strikingly similar, police said. The duo alleged that other women had also been victimised in the racket.

Three people including two women were arrested for allegedly running the sex and drug racket, police said.

The accused have been identified as Amreen and Afreen, who were arrested along with their associate Chandan Yadav following the complaint. Three other people, identified as Bilal, Chanu, and Yasir, have been booked but are absconding, NDTV reported.

From rags to riches?

Police told HT that the accused are being investigated for their sources of income given the rise of the sisters from a slum in Abbas Nagar to a fancy lifestyle as they had recently shifted to a villa in Bhopal's Sagar Royal Villas.

“Authorities are also probing the bank details and sources of income of the accused, as the sisters had risen from living in a slum in Abbas Nagar to owning a luxurious villa, cars, and traveling by air. They reportedly paid several women ₹10,000 a month for household chores,” Bagsewaniya police station in-charge Amit Soni said, adding that a team has been sent to Ahmedabad for further investigation.

The two sisters, according to reports, targeted girls from economically weaker backgrounds by offering them domestic jobs with a monthly salary of ₹10,000, free accommodation, food, and a “high-profile lifestyle.”

The FIR has been registered under section 64 (rape), 123 (penalizes causing hurt by means of poison, stupefying drugs, or other unwholesome substances with the intent to commit an offence, cause injury, or facilitate a crime) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha (BNS) and under relevant sections of MP Freedom of Religion Act.