Thiruvananthapuram: The Cyber Police on Thursday busted an online sex racket operating from a rented apartment in the city and arrested 14 people, including a foreign woman, in this connection.
The gang members comprised nine men and five women, including a serial actress, Bangalore-based model and a production assistant in the film industry, the police said. Seven victims, including minor girls, were rescued during the raid.
The prime accused, Geetha, 51, of Sreekaryam, who was running the racket, were among those who were booked. The other members of the gang have been identified as Geetha's daughter Nayana, 28, and son-in-law Pradeep, 38, Ajith, 53, of Ernakulam, Sreejith, 26, of Balaramapuram, Niyas, 30, of Poozhikunnu, Vipin, 31, of Malayinkeezhu, Thilakan, 38, and S. Saju, 33, of Attingal, Jaison, 31, of Rajakkad near Idukki, Shameer, 30, of Vellayani, Sajeena, 33, of Pattom, and S. Bindu, 44, of Kowdiar.
According to the police, the foreign woman was identified as Nandini, a Sri Lankan national, who speaks Malayalam fluently.
The police had kept the gang and its activities under surveillance for over one-and-a-half months before raiding the apartment on Thursday. The police action was part of the state-wide crackdown on sex rackets, which was codenamed 'Operation Big Daddy'.
The accused were involved in supplying minors for prostitution through online classifieds featuring models. The police trapped the gang members by approaching them under the guise of prospective clients and offering bigger amounts of money for the ‘service’. The gang demanded Rs 33 lakh to supply women, the officials said.
The police also seized five cars used for trafficking and over a dozen mobile phones used to send photos of the girls to customers. Steps will be initiated to rehabilitate the victims who hail from different parts of Kerala as well as neibhouring States, the officials added.
The police team, led by CB Inspector General S. Sreejith, also had DySP V. Ragesh, inspectors J. K. Dinil, N. Shibu, O. A. Sunil, S. Suresh Babu, sub-inspectors N. Saji Kumar and B. Sajisankar.
