14 trafficked girls rescued, man arrested

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths have arrested a 38-year-old man and rescued 14 girls from his house in Nagadevanahalli.

The suspect, Praveen Shetty, would lure girls from other states promising them jobs and later forced them into illegal activities.

The victims hailed from Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharastra. They told the police that Shetty was harassing them and locked them in the house when they resisted him.

The police booked Shetty under IPC section 370-exploitation which include, prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or slavery), and produced him before a magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody.

The victims have been sent to a state home for woman for rehabilitation. Efforts are on to hand them over to their families, a senior police officer said.