POLICE BUSTED a flesh-trade racket following raids on two hotels here on Sunday. They arrested 23 women and 24 men. The hotel owners and employees were among those arrested.
Most of the girls and women who were arrested belonged to the lower-middle class. A special police team raided City Hotel and Luxmi Hotel around 11 am. The raids caused panic among people who fled the hotels.
Hotel employees were reportedly involved in the racket.
Police also seized around Rs 32,000 cash from the hotels. The money was realised by hotel owners from the flesh trade. Police also seized contraceptives, CDs of pronographic films and a CD player from the hotel. More than half the arrested women were over 30 years old.
While some of them were from the slums, others came from Bairhana, Kydganj and Kareilly localities of the city.
Some women from other districts also used to be called by hotel owners, police said. The hotel owners used to realise money directly from customers and pay a small amount to the women. The hotel owners confessed they were running the racket for nearly six months in connivance with local police.
During a recent briefing, SSP Vijay Singh Meena told his juniors that he would not tolerate any illegal activity under any police station. But, the Kotwali police paid no heed to the warning. Following a tip-off about the racket in two hotels, a team was formed.
{{/usCountry}}During a recent briefing, SSP Vijay Singh Meena told his juniors that he would not tolerate any illegal activity under any police station. But, the Kotwali police paid no heed to the warning. Following a tip-off about the racket in two hotels, a team was formed.
{{/usCountry}}It comprised COs Rajesh Chaurasia and Rajesh Kumar Yadav, Civil Lines inspector Anil Rai, Kareilly station officer Rajesh Kumar Singh, Special Operations Group inspector BB Singh, Muthiganj station officer Virendra Yadav, Mahila police station incharge Pratima Singh, sub-inspector Poonam Singh and others.
The team first dispatched a few cops in plainclothes as decoy customers who struck a deal with the hotel owners.
Later, the plainclothesmen contacted their teams on their cell phones. Within minutes, police teams raided both hotels.