Flesh trade goes online, sees boom as cops busy with lockdown

Nagpur: Taking advantage of the cops’ focus on the lockdown enforcement and other Covid related duties, flesh trade racketeers have shifted to online mode even as all other businesses nosedived due to restrictions.
With the resumption of flight services, it’s learnt young girls masquerading as students are also coming to the city from Mumbai and Pune. They are even charging almost double for services, citing the hardship during lockdown. Several young girls from the city, including students, too have become part of the sex rackets during lockdown to fund their narcotics addictions, like MD drugs, which were available only at very high prices during the lockdown.
Police said several escort agents and women, unregistered friendship clubs and massage services have cropped up with online contact facility. An officer said there were plenty of websites where mobile numbers, photos of young women with assumed names and message reading ‘call me’ could be seen during the lockdown. “These mobile numbers mostly remained switched off. We believe they call back after seeing the missed call alerts, responding only to numbers they find safe,” said an officer.
Sources said the flesh trade rackets also found that their economically well-off customers were more eager than in the past to use their services. Apart from service apartments, some lesser known hotels and lodges were being illegally made available for the customers. It’s learnt that these places too were booked through online services. The payments too were received through mobile apps to avoid being caught by the police department, who find it easy to make stronger cases against pimps, brothel owners and escort agents when caught red-handed with cash.
The racketeers, after a spate of action by cops, shifted their activities online to avoid being traced and trapped. An insider said the racketeers had also raised the charges for the services offered by their women manifold during lockdown. “The racketeers were charging Rs8,000-10,000 for a night, which earlier used to be Rs5,000 for local women during normal times,” he said.
“They were charging Rs5,000 for an hour during the day, claiming women were not available or not ready to provide services due to lockdown,” he said.
Senior PI Kishor Parvate of social service branch of crime branch admitted the racketeers have felt it easier to operate during lockdown as cops were busy in the Covid fight. “The racketeers are now asking clients to book rooms at hotels or lodges, or directing them to certain service apartments. All payments are through apps. It’s only after online transactions are completed that they are directly sending the women or girls to such hotels. They no longer accompany the women to the locations like in the past,” said Parvate, who has busted several such rackets in the past.
Tejinder Singh Renu, president of Nagpur Residential Hotel Owners Association, said civic or police administration should take strict actions against such illegal use of hotels through online portals.