Shishir Kumar Ranchi
Be it for managing tenders, cracking deals or getting a favour from bosses, a new 'gift' is grasping the elite society of Jharkhand - sex workers. Shockingly, the State capital itself has 100 such venues where the sex trade is being run and that too under the nose of police.
The facts were brought to the fore by the sex workers arrested in connection with a murder by the Ranchi Police this month. "The arrested women confessed that they are into the business and the trade has flourished a lot in the past. Another fact that came into open was that the business is mostly run by the outsiders coming into the city and they run it in rented premises," Neeraj Kumar, officer-in-charge of Argora police station said.
Sources claimed that these sex rackets are mostly running in the rented houses in the posh areas of Ranchi including Harmu, Ashok Nagar, Vardaman Compound, Tharpakna and Ratu Road. "Harmu has one of the most top-rated sex rackets in the State. Besides, there are a couple of famed hotels of the city that give shelters to such activities," sources claimed.
An arrested sex worker identified as Shanti aka Kiran revealed that it is not just the professional sex workers but the girls of the elite educational institutions who are involved in the trade.
"There is a racket of professional sex workers running in the State capital besides there is another rackets that operates from spots at circular road and Purulia Road. This racket has girls from the educational institutes and the customers pay any amount from Rs 3,200 to Rs 15,000 for these girls," claimed Kiran.
Moreover, the trade is no more a local phenomenon as the girls are brought from Kashmir and other northern States to Ranchi on demand, the arrested woman revealed. "Mostly customers belong to the elite classes and so most of the venues are such that cannot be raided," claimed a police officer.
Sahanawaz Begum, a resident of Bali district in West Bengal, who was arrested in the same case, claimed that she was brought to the city very often for the trade. "I have visited Ranchi many times. It is not just West Bengal but I have met sex workers who were in the city from Punjab, Goa and other States," Begum claimed.
The police acting fast on the interrogation reports raided two such venues and arrested nine sex workers - however, the raids were later brought to halt.
"The first two raids were done by the officer-in-charges however it had to be stopped as the raids that are done under the trafficking Act has to be lead by the DSP. In this case, the related DSP's showed no interest and so the raids were stopped," claimed a police officer on condition of anonymity.
MS Bhatia, SSP Ranchi claimed that the district police have not stopped their investigations into the matter. "It is a long-term action and cannot be finished after a series of raids. The nexus is too deep and we are further investigating into the matter and hope to get more success in the matter," he added.
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