Social Security Cell of Pune police rescued 7 girls — 3 of them minors — and arrested 4 pimps for running a sex trade racket from a bungalow near Katraj for the past three months. One minor had been brought from Bangladesh
The Social Security Cell of Pune Crime Branch rescued seven girls including three minors, and arrested four pimps who were allegedly running a prostitution racket from a bungalow located in the remote area of Mangdewadi near Katraj for the past three months.
The minor girls rescued include a 15-year-old while the other two are 17 years of age. They were paid between Rs 17,000 to Rs 30,000 for 15 days on a contract basis by one Munni Bora, the mastermind behind this racket, who is still absconding, cops told mid-day.
One of rescued girls, who was brought to the country from Bangladesh for the purpose, said, “A man called Prashant and his friends had promised us a household and nursing job in India. I was first brought to Kolkata and then moved to various metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. I have been forced into this racket since past one year.”
The arrested suspects have been identified as Kiran Siddhram Waghmare (26), Bhujang Shravan Kamble (23), Mallikarjun Manmat Muktapure (34) — all three from Latur — and Sandeep Kailas Nerpagare (22) from Aurangabad.
Police Inspector Sanjay Nikam of the Social Security Cell said, “Out of the seven girls, three are from Bangladesh while the other four are from Assam and West Bengal. They were kept in the bungalow at Mangdewadi for three months. The racket was operated by one Munni Bora who is absconding. We don’t have any criminal record of Bora or details about the owner of the bungalow.”
How it worked
“As told by the arrested suspects, Munni is around 35 years old and has connections with several agents who bring girls from Bangladesh and eastern states of India. The modus operandi of this group was to take the girls to nearby lodges where the customers would be waiting. The girls were taken to the lodge and brought back to the bungalow in a car by the arrested suspects every day,” PI Nikam said.
Acting on a tip-off received from a source, Assistant Police Inspector Ashwini Jagtap along with her staff police constables Anuradha Thombre, Pragati Naiknavare, Ajit Dhumal and Rakesh Boyne raided the bungalow on Wednesday around 2 pm. The police team had sent a decoy to the place after which they raided the place.
“We have identified the lodges where the prostitution was actually taking place. We will certainly take action against the owners and managers of this lodge for allowing this illegal practice on their premises,” Nikam stated.
All the rescued girls were sent to the Mundhwa remand home, while the arrested accused, booked for immoral trafficking, will be produced in court today.
28 rescued so far
The Social Security Cell of Pune Crime Branch has rescued 22 adult and six minor girls this year. So far 13 cases have been registered under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), and 20 persons have been arrested since January.
Cops crack down on sex workers
Cops have also decided to crack the whip on women soliciting customers on roads. Police Inspector Sanjay Nikam of Social Security Cell said, “Police Commissioner Satish Mathur has given special instructions to the Social Security Cell to take action against women standing on road and attracting clients for prostitution. Such incidents are being reported from Camp, Budhwar Peth, Mandai area. We have so far taken action against 30 women under section 110 (Behaving indecently in public) of Bombay Police Act. These women are not part of any organized syndicate and do such acts voluntarily.”
