Two Students in Sex Racket
BHUBANESWAR: Two students were among the three girls rescued by Commissionerate of Police during a raid on a house where a sex racket was running on Monday night. Bita Mishra (23) of Pathurai Sahi in Puri, who had involved them in the racket, has been arrested. The racket was running from a guest house in N3 locality of IRC Village under Nayapalli police limits. Seven men, purportedly the customers, were arrested during the raid. They have been identified as Sadam Hossen, Manohar Hossen and Saif Imam of Dhanupalli in Sambalpur district, Prdyumna Thatoi of Binjharpur, Susant Sahoo of R Udyagiri, Tapas Jena of Jaleswar and Kalindi Behera of Salia Sahi here. Meanwhile, kingpin of the racket Sunil Meher and his associate managed to give the police a slip. Meher, an infamous pimp based in the city, runs an inter-State prostitution ring from multiple locations in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. He was arrested earlier but reorganised the business after he was out on bail. “We are contemplating to move the court for declaring Meher as a habitual offender and book him under Section 110 of the CrPC,” Police Commissioner Dr RP Sharma said. A search team has been formed to nab Meher and his associate, he added. Nayapalli police have registered a case under Sections 4, 5, 7 and 8 of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and Sections 370 (C), 109 and 34 of IPC against the accused and produced them in the court which remanded them to judicial custody.
Minor Boys Rescued by GRP
Three minor boys, who were forcibly engaged as cleaning staff at a restaurant, were rescued by the Government Railway Police (GRP) on Tuesday. The boys aged about 10 years were identified as Phuladhara, Tabira and Abhi belonging to Uparagodala village of Dasamantapur block in Koraput district. GRP personnel were tipped off by an NGO after the boys were spotted on the railway platform. The boys were tortured by their employer regularly. On Tuesday, they managed to escape from the restaurant and arrived at the station. The children were unable to locate the place where they were employed. Investigation was on to identify the restaurant owner, the police said. The children were produced before Khurda Child Welfare Committee and sent to a shelter home after their statements were recorded.
Woman Held for Killing Husband
A woman, who had fled after killing her husband, was arrested by the Commissionerate of Police on Tuesday. The accused, Mamina alias Sebati, was arrested by the police from Panikoili in Jajpur district while she was about to board a bus to a neighbouring State. Mamina, a resident of Radhakrushna lane slum under Chandrasekharpur police limits, killed her husband in a fit of rage over a family dispute. The couple was under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred, the police said. She was booked under Section 302 of the IPC and produced in a court which sent Mamina to judicial custody.
HC Relief for Chitra Athwani
Orissa High Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to Mumbai-based air hostess Chitra Athwani till August 7 for deposing before Commissionerate of Police.
Chitra, who was issued summons by Nayapalli police to verify her links with Deccan Chronicle vice-chairman PK Iyer, had expressed her inability to depose on health grounds. The court, while hearing her anticipatory bail plea, granted Chitra an interim protection and directed her to depose before the investigating officer of the case.
The court has fixed August 7 as next date of hearing. Chitra’s counsel had moved the High Court for anticipatory bail on behalf of his client on June 25. Iyer, an accused in a multi-crore bank loan fraud, was arrested by Commissionerate of Police and handed over to the CBI on June 6. He was staying in a hotel room in the city which was booked in Chitra’s name.