Sex racket busted, 9 women rescued

BHUBANESWAR:At least nine women, including three West Bengal natives, were rescued by police from Konark in Puri district on Sunday for their alleged involvement in flesh trade.The police informed that all the rescued women were more than 18 years of age and later, they were sent to hospital for a medical examination. Acting on a tip-off that flesh trade was being run in the State’s one of the most visited tourist destinations, the police conducted raids at five lodges in Konark and rescued all the nine victims.

“We conducted raids at five lodges, however, the victims were rescued from two. The manager of one of the lodges and six customers were also apprehended from the spot,” SDPO Niranjan Padhi said.
Police also organised a meeting among the owners and officials of the lodges for putting a curb on illegal activities reportedly going on in the area. “There are 30 to 35 lodges in Konark.

We have called a meeting on April 10 to discuss with the lodge owners on how to end the flesh trade business in the area,” Padhi said. Police sources said some lodges in the area were alerted about the surprise raids being conducted by the cops following which they immediately shut down all the alleged illegal activities there.