25 December,2019 07:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Vishal Singh
This picture has been used for representational purpose only
Mumbai police's Social Service (SS) branch has busted a prostitution racket that operated through social media applications like WhatsApp, TikTok and Bingo.
A team from the SS Branch, on December 23, laid a trap where a supposed customer reached out to them through the app Bingo. The gang would send pictures and videos of girls to customers through the direct message feature of the applications.
To get the videos, the gang would form WhatsApp groups meant for recruiting young girls for films, advertisements and promos. They'd ask girls between the age of 20 and 22 to send their videos on TikTok and WhatsApp and then push them into prostitution to earn easy money. "The gang demanded Rs 40,000 for providing an Indian girl and Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 lakh for a girl of foreign origin. The customer demanded a Russian girl and they fell into our trap on Bingo. The gang asked the customer to come to a luxury hotel in Juhu. Our team at the spot seized a Maruti WagonR car, in which the girl was brought. Two pimps, Yogesh alias Yuvi Ashok Galhot and Suraj Kumar Dasharatha Mandal have been arrested and three girls have been rescued," said an officer attached to the SS Branch.
During interrogation, Mandal said that another man, Ravi Mandal, owns over a dozen cars which are used to supply girls to high-end hotels on customers' demands. Police are on the lookout for Ravi, another suspect, Raj Kumar and the mastermind, Jayesh Bohra alias Tony who operates from Jodhupur, Rajasthan. Tony contacts his customers on Bingo, WhataApp and Tik Tok, police said.
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Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shivdeep Lande, told mid-day, "Nowadays, sex rackets are being run using social media applications. We have to monitor these apps to bust such rackets."
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