Mumbai: Cops bust online sex racket in Mira Road, auto driver held but mastermind escapes

The anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have busted a prostitution racket and arrested an auto-rickshaw driver who was hired to collect payments for the rendezvous and ferry women from Dahisar to lodges in the twin-city.

While the masterminds of the racket managed to give a slip to the police team, two young women were rescued from the clutches of the flesh trade racketeers who had created websites to attract potential customers and interact with other pimps.

Later they used WhatsApp and other social media platforms to share pictures of women. Acting on a tip-off, team about immoral trafficking of women, the team established contact with the racketeers through a decoy customer.

How police laid the trap to nab criminals

After confirmation, the police laid a trap and apprehended the auto-driver identified as-Raviprasad Yadav (42) near a hotel in Hatkesh area of Mira Road on Wednesday afternoon.

Based on the information provided by Yadav, the team raided a tenement in Dahisar.

However, the master mind managed to give a slip to the police team. While a case under section 370 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) has been registered against the accused, the rescued women were safely sent to a rehabilitation home. Further investigations were on.