Bangalore:
The Bangalore police busted a major online prostitution racket with the arrest of three people, including a software engineer and a Mumbai-based prostitute, last night.
Acting on a tip-off from the city Crime Branch, the Koramangala police raided the Elite Hotel near Maharaja Junction at 11 pm and arrested techie Vijay Kumar, the prostitute, Riya, and a room boy, Laures.
"The racket has been going on for nearly two years. Vijay Kumar used to contact a pimp called Kalpana in Mumbai through the Internet to ask her to send girls for him," said an official from the Koramangala police.
Vijay Kumar, who is employed with a reputed software company in the city, had called Kalpana and asked for a girl for Thursday night. Kalpana accordingly booked a room in the Elite Hotel and 22-year-old Riya was flown down to Bangalore last morning. Laures helped Kalpana with operations in the city, said the officer.
When the police raided the hotel, Laures was guarding the door of the room Vijay Kumar and Riya were in. All three were taken into custody and Riya was later transferred to a remand home.
The officer said pimps in other cities target software professionals in Bangalore as they get good salaries. Prostitutes from other cities make nearly Rs 1 lakh a day during their stay here. "We have been looking to crack down on online prostitution rackets for a few months as they have become rampant in the city," he said.
During initial interrogation, Vijay Kumar confessed that he had been involved in this racket for the past two years. He said Kalpana had been supplying him girls from various states and even from other countries. He said he used to send the request online and that Kalpana charged extra money for the girls' flights and lodging.
Laures told the police that it was his duty to guard the door and he was doing it. He denied having any connection with the racket and said he had never heard of prostitutes coming into the hotel in the six months he had been there.
Koramangala police officials said the trio would be interrogated further today to find out the other people involved in the racket.