Police uncover sleaze racket in Kasba, arrest 14

Police uncovered a sleaze racket at Narkelbagan in Kasba and arrested 14 people, including five women, and apprehended five minor girls. The racket was allegedly run by a 35-year-old widow, Maya Chatterjee with the help of the house owner Pradip Bhattacharya.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of policemen raided a first-floor a building in Narkelbagan area, which was known as a students’ hostel.

The women, who were arrested with their clients in the hostel, came from the outskirts of North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Among the arrested women were girls in their late teens to some in their mid-thirties. But the minor girls were below 15 years of age, said a police officer.

The clients were reported to be affluent businessmen in the city. They were booked under the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act. The building has been sealed by the investigators.

The police, however, said that Maya and Pradip were in a relationship and had decided to start the trade. The racket was masterminded by these two, the police added.

Both the accused were arrested. For quite some days, police have been getting reports about a sleaze racket operating in a building, which is known as students’ hostel. After they raided the building the scene was pretty clear to the investigators.

“Many men and women were seen coming in the house at late night. The neighbours had never complained about it to the police. They were all fearful and suspected the racket had links with local anti-socials,” a police officer said.

It should be recalled that police have been raiding local bars to unearth sleaze rackets in the past few weeks.

The continuous effort by police to expose the sex and sleaze racket operating in the lesser known bars of the area ultimately bore fruit when two women, hailing from Mumbai and Punjab respectively, were rescued by the cops.

This came following specific information from a top IT executive, working in Sector V about the plight of the duo.

The women were being forced to dance “indecently” before clients after midnight and then “entertain” them. One of the duo was rescued from inside a locked room.