2 MP women rescued from sex racket; pimp, son held

The Mira Road police on Saturday rescued a minor and another woman from prostitution while arresting a pimp and her accomplice son.

The rescue was made possible after an alert auto driver tipped off a journalist, who in turn informed the Mira Road police. The rescued women hail from a small village in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and were first sold to pimps in Agra, then brought to Mira Road. They were about to be taken and sold to another pimp in Kolkata when the minor managed to escape and inform the auto driver.

According to inspector Jagdish Shinde of Mira Road police station, the pimp has been identified as Saroj Singh (65) and her son and accomplice Sanjay (35). They are both residents of Mira Road.

The two women, including a 17-year-old minor, residents of Nakhuni village in Shahdol district, Madhya Pradesh, came in contact with a man near the revenue office of their village three months ago, who “appreciated” their complexion. He suggested that they could become successful models or actors in the Hindi film industry in Mumbai. The women fell for the trap and came away with the man who first took them to Agra, where he sold them to a pimp. They were then made to work as prostitutes. In the first week of July, the duo was brought to Mira Road and forced to entertain strangers in a flat owned by arrested accused Saroj.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, when Saroj and Sanjay were not in their house, the minor girl managed to escape and hailed a passing auto rickshaw. As the girl was in a state of panic, the auto rickshaw driver asked her if she was okay, that’s when the minor narrated her ordeal to him, claimed inspector Shinde.

The auto driver immediately called up newspaper journalist who then informed the Mira Road police. The police accordingly raided the Saroj’s flat and rescued the other 21-year-old woman who was sold into prostitution with the minor. “We have arrested Saroj Singh and her son under rape and kidnapping sections of the IPC and also pressed sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trade Act (PITA) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012. They are in police custody and were produced before the Thane court. We are looking for the other pimps connected with this case in Agra and also for the man from Shahdol who first lured the girls into the racket,” said inspector Shinde.