Flesh Trade Shocker - Girls Beware while Recharging your Mobile Currency
Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Jan 17: Mobile phone frauds have become a common occurence, but of late, another serious offence related to misuse of mobile phone numbers is being reported from the twin districts of the coastal region. Mobile phone recharge shops have been reportedly taking advantage of innocent girls who approach them for recharge coupons and give their numbers. The employees/owners of the shop or their friends call the girls on their numbers, develop friendships and later misuse them.
In many cases, girls fall prey to the michief mongers, and it has been reported that boys take maximum advantage of this, ending up ruining the girls' lives.
Shockingly, the same modus operandi was followed in the human trafficking racket reported from Kundapur earlier this week.
Police during investigation stumbled upon a scandal of a serious magnitude behind the human trafficking racket. The racket reportedly is spread over the entire state, and has its roots in the simple act of recharging mobile currency.
Amongst the arrested, three are said to be running a mobile recharge outlet. The accused reportedly note down the numbers of girls who come to recharge at their shop and use them for immoral activities. When a consumer comes in search of a girl, the accused lure the girls with jobs and then use them for their own ends.
Later, the girls are allegedly blackmailed and trapped, and their escape route is closed.
Acting on reliable information about human trafficking from Udupi to Goa, the police team on Sunday arrested 9 members and seized their vehicles.
The court on Monday asked 7 of the accused to appear again on Tuesday by providing them interim bail, and asked the police to provide security to the two women accused. On Tuesday, the court again granted interim bail and postponed the case to Wednesday. On Wednesday, the court for the third time granted interim bail to all, as Suresh Poojary, one of the accused, failed to appear for some reasons.
Iqbal, one of the accused in the case who owns a recharge shop, allegedly noted down the phone numbers of female customers who came to his shop for recharge. These numbers were later transferred to Nayana, who is also an accused in the case. Using this number, Nayana allegedly developed friendship with the girls and used them for immoral activities by luring them with jobs.
Another accused, Suresh, would identify rich people and then reportedly send the girls to them through Nayana. This kind of human trafficking was carried out in Mangalore and Manipal, and whenever needed, even in places like Bangalore, Chikmagalur, Shimoga and other parts. Sources said that, after the Padil home stay attack of last year, the gang had reportedly taken refuge in Goa just to be on the safer side.
Police sources said that apart from flesh trade, a drugs network is also interwoven in the racket. Moreover, it is said that a woman hailing from Shimoga, settled in Karkala, has been running the racket through a beauty parlour in Mangalore. Also, investigations have revealed that a youth from Kaup who owns a mobile recharge outlet is also involved in the racket.
Interestingly, the police stumbled open the case quite by chance, while pursuing a suspect in the murder case of RTI activist Vasudeva Adiga. The police found the number of one of the suspects, and kept a tab on his phone conversations, which led to the revelation of the flesh trade together with further clues to Adiga case.