The police officer who was assisting a sex racket operating in the Middle East, by sending girls through Cochin International Airport Ltd, surrendered before the Organised Crime Wing of the Crime Branch, in Kochi on Thursday. The accused is Raju Mathew, 44, of Kaniparambu House, Kuropad-Lakatoor, Kottayam. He was working as a Sub Inspector of Police at the Immigration Wing of the airport.
Raju was the fifth accused in a fake passport case and fourth accused in an immoral trafficking case, both of which were being investigated by the Crime Branch unit. According to the police, Raju was absconding after the fake passport case was registered in July 2012.
“A girl from Kazhakootam was taken to Sharjah using a fake passport and forced into prostitution. However, she escaped with the help of NRIs and arrived at the Mumbai airport where police took him into custody for possessing fake passport. The case was handed over to the Kerala police and later to the Crime Branch. The girl was lured with the offer of better salary through a house-keeping job in Sharjah by a woman named Santha. Santha handed over the girl to Sethulal and Shaji who were agents supplying girls for the sex racket from Kerala. The racket was being operated by a woman named Lissy Sojan, also known as Leena and Aswathy from Wadakancherry. The racketeers used to take girls to Gulf countries with the assistance of police officers like Raju Mathew who cleared the passport formalities without any verification at the airport. The girl from Kazhakootam was carrying a passport of a woman from Kattapana. The racketeers had changed the photo in the passport and sent the girl to Sharjah,” a CB official said.
During the investigation into the fake passport case, officials also registered a case of immoral trafficking as the girl was a victim of the racketeers. Raju Mathew, who had been absconding, filed a petition in the Kerala High Court for bail. After dismissing the bail petition first, the High Court had asked him to surrender before the investigation officer for considering his bail plea. As per the order, he surrendered at the Crime Branch office at Kaloor. He was later produced before the Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate.