15 held as cops bust online sex racket

KOCHI: The city police on Friday busted an online sex racket and arrested 15 people who were part of its operations. Transgenders and women from other states were among those arrested during the raid at a lodge near Pullepadi.The arrested have been identified as Shehnas (28) and Firdhose (38) and Neelam (21) from New Delhi, Mary (28) from Assam, Anju (20) from Muvattupuzha, Rahith (21) and Binu (22) from Kozhikode, Jyothish (22) from Alappuzha, Jaison (37) from Malappuram, Joshi and Vineesh (28) from Kochi and transgenders Arun (19), Melbin (22) Akhil and Ratheesh (34).

The arrests were carried out under the supervision of  Assistant Police Commissioner K Lalji, who launched the raid under the instruction of City Police Commissioner M P Dhinesh.According to the police, they got wind of the activities of the racket by monitoring their communication on social media and related websites.

"They were using websites such as Justdial and Locanto to attract customers. Based on the information, we tracked their movement and finally decided to act," said a police officer.

The police also seized weapons, alcohol, mobile phones and contraceptives from the lodge."The racket functioned with the support of Joshi and Vineesh, who were taking care of the lodge.

They also set up a separate entry for customers so that they could make it to the rooms unnoticed," said the officer."We are collecting more information about the people who are involved in the racket. We hope to make a few more arrests in the coming days," the officer added. The arrested will be produced before a local court on Saturday.