JOIN USPolice have rescued six women from a prostitution racket at a private lodge near Pumpwell on Friday.
During a joint raid conducted by crime records bureau and Mangaluru East Police, six persons have been arrested and cases have been lodged against eight people. The owner and manager of the lodge are absconding, DCP (Crime and Traffic) Uma Prashanth said.
The arrested are: Pavan Acharya (24) from Kakkinje village, Belthangadi; Dinesh (26) from Chilanuru village, Soraba, Shivamogga; Veerendra Narayana Kumbar (32) from Bastimane near Murdeshwar, Bhatkal; Revanna (27) from Bookanakere, KR Pet, Mandya; Ravikumar (28) from Sobaganahalli, Kunigal, Tumakuru; and Rajesh (25), Asanabalu, Sringeri.
Hotel owner Shekhar alias Chandrashekhar and Manager Shivaram are absconding.
Women used as sex workers are said to have been brought in from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Andhra Pradesh.
Hideout
The accused had created a hideout within the lodge, by concealing a narrow room with tile-like structures, to make it appear as a part of the wall.
Whenever the police had conducted a raid, the receptionist of the lodge would give a long ring on the telephone as a distress call. On receiving the signal, the customers and the women would take shelter in the hideout.
Even during the raid conducted on Friday, six women and a man were hidden in the secret room.
At Kottara
The City Crime Branch police on Friday arrested two people for running flesh trade and recovered two mobile phones, Rs 30,220 and two bikes from them. The police also rescued two women who were pushed into the prostitution by the suspects.
The suspects are Jeevan Poojary (27), a resident of Padupalimar in Udupi and
K P Nagraj (27), Channarayapatna taluk, Hassan district.
Jeevan operated as a pimp. Two others involved in the racket are at large, said the police.
Tip-off
On a tip-off, the police raided a flat at an apartment at Kottara Cross at Bejai Kapikad road in Mangaluru and arrested the suspects.
According to the police, the suspects operated through a website to attract customers.
They had mentioned their contact numbers to felicitate customers to contact them.
The victims have been handed over to Mahila Sweekara Kendra.
CCP Inspectors Shantaram, PSI Shyamsundar, Kabbal Raj, Urwa Police Station Inspector Ravish Nayak and others took part in the raid operation.