HC reserves order on bail plea of Steel City hotelier accused in sex scandal

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday reserved its order in a bail application filed by a Jamshedpur-based hotelier accused in a case of immoral trafficking during the lockdown in April.
The court of justice Rongon Mukhopadhayay heard the petition filed on behalf of Rajiv Singh Duggal , the owner of Hotel Alcor owner, and reserved the order to be pronounced on July 6. Duggal has been in custody since April 25, when three prominent businessmen from the Steel City and a woman from Kolkata, were arrested from his hotel.
The police had raided the hotel on a tip-off about violation of the pandemic guidelines issued by the Union home ministry during the lockdown imposed to check the spread of the virus. The police had also received information of a sex racket operating in the hotel in the garb of running a spa.
The raid was conducted by the Bistupur police and Jamshedpur-based railway contractor Rajesh ‘Laddu’ Mangotiam businessmen Deepak Agrawal and Rajat Jaggi were arrested from the hotel. A Kolkata woman who had checked into the hotel was also arrested. The three businessmen were released after interrogation on a personal bond.
Duggal and his manager Dhanajay Singh were also arrested by the police and remanded to custody. Duggal’s counsel argued before the court that his client has been falsely implicated in the case. He was not present on the spot when allegedly the police conducted the raid.
The hotelier was not aware of the activities going on in the hotel as it was run by the staff. He was not involved in any proposition promoting the flesh trade as has been alleged by the prosecution, the counsel said.
The court after hearing the case at length reserved its order. The order will be delivered on July 6.