BENGALURU : City police arrested nine people including a 40-year-old Turkish woman who ran a prostitution racket on Telegram and WhatsApp via the ‘Bengaluru Dating Club’ group.
Police said the accused have been identified as Bioinyaz Swamy Gowda, a resident of Cooke town, Akshay J, 32, of Nandini Layout, Govindaraj, 34, of Parappana Agrahara, Vaishak V Chatloor, 22, of Laggere, Prakash K, 32, of Mahalakshmi Layout, Manoj Das, 23, Pramod Kumar, 31, both natives of Odisha, and Jithendra Sahoo, 43, of Peenya.
The mastermind, Bioinyaz Swamy Gowda, a native of Turkey has been residing in India for the past 15 years. Bioinyaz married a Bengaluru-based businessman, Rohith Swamy Gowda, in Turkey, following which the duo came to India. After her husband’s death about 10 years ago, Bioinyaz allegedly started a flesh trade.
Acting on a tip-off, the Ulsoor and Baiyappanahalli police launched an investigation into a Telegram group where the racket was operating under the guise, ‘Bengaluru Dating Club.’ The channel was discovered to be enticing users by posting women’s photos. The operation ensued when one of the police informants posed as a customer, leading to the arrest of the gang in a room at Leela Park Hotel in Domlur.
The police also detained a total of seven women including five foreign-origin women in connection with the case and are questioning them about their role. Investigations revealed that these women were involved in trafficking women from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, and various other countries.