PARADIP: Police busted a flesh trade reportedly operating under the guise of a spa centre and arrested four clients including three crew members of a vessel berthed at Paradip Port on Saturday. The accused are Pawan Kumar Lalmani Kashyap, Vikas Kumar Gupta and Aman Zikriya Walele, the crew members of MV Hari Anand which is berthed at the port to export diesel from the local IOCL refinery.
They are from Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan. The fourth accused is an employee of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), said police. Sources said acting on a tip-off, police raided Golden Spa located at Tarenigada along Cuttack- Paradip state highway and busted the prostitution racket.
During the raid, the four accused were arrested while police rescued nine women, mostly from West Bengal. Three other clients and spa owner Sheikh Badru managed to escape. The spa owner had engaged women from West Bengal and other parts of Odisha in the flesh trade.
The clientele reportedly included employees of various government agencies, private companies and vessel crew members. Police said investigation revealed that the spa owner contacted clients through WhatsApp and Facebook, in addition to sending unsolicited messages with attractive rate cards and packages to unknown persons.
IIC of Paradip Model police station Kabuli Barik said a case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act. The four accused were produced in court. A manhunt has been launched to nab the spa owner who is at large, he added.