Sleaze racket unearthed, 6 held from Salt Lake flat

Kolkata: Bidhannagar police arrested six persons including three women from a flat at Salt Lake for their alleged involvement in running a sleaze racket.

Police said Babu Ratan Pal and Debprasad Sardar, who were arrested in this connection, might have been the agents while another accused Ajay Kar, a retired bank manager, came to the house as a customer.

Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising policemen conducted a raid in the flat after they had received information that the sleaze racket might be operating in the flat for the past few months. According to the preliminary investigation, police came to know that a person had taken the flat on rent from its owner saying that he would start a business.

The policemen went there posing as prospective customers and caught the accused red-handed. A police officer said that some local people had helped them to run the racket in the posh area.

The sleaze racket had been running in the area in guise of a massage parlour, which was being run by Babu Ratan, preliminary investigation suggests. Police have started a case under the Immoral Trafficking Act. Police suspect that many other persons might have been involved in the incident.

Police said that the accused are involved in a human trafficking racket and sought custody when produced in Barasat Court. They will be questioned to know whether they had connection with any inter-state human trafficking racket.

Police have sealed the massage parlour where women from various parts of the state and also outside were engaged to run an "illegal" trade. The local people received information that women were engaged to lure people saying that it is a massage parlour. They used to charge Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 from each person visiting the parlour.

The police received complaint from the local people saying that certain "illegal" activities had been taking place there. On the basis of the information, police raided the parlour and arrested the accused. Police have started a detailed probe in this regard.