Mumbai sex trade racket busted, 60 women rescued by Crime Branch

The accused: Farid Ul Haque Azizul Haque alias Tipu, Mohammad Kamaal Shaikh and Tinku Dinesh Raj

After busting an international flesh trade racket on Monday, the Mumbai Crime Branch saved tens of girls, who were set to be sent out of the country for prostitution, yesterday. From Monday till now, officers have recovered and seized 60 passports from the three arrested accused; the passports are of different women staying in remote and poor regions across India. Statements of all of them will be recorded soon.

On Monday, the crime branch had arrested the main accused, Farid Ul Haque Azizul Haque alias Tipu, 44, a Dubai hotelier, and two job placement agents, Mohammad Kamaal Shaikh and Tinku Dinesh Raj. Tipu stays in a plush society in Lokhandwala, Andheri West, and has two hotels in Dubai, where 40-odd such women are employed. He was picked up from his home, while the other two were arrested from their respective offices in Nagpada. An officer said, "Of these 60 women, several knew for what purpose they were being sent abroad, while others didn't."

Blowing the lid off
Explaining how the racket was busted, the police said one of the victims hailing from Rajasthan was sent to Bahrain on the pretext of a job in a hotel on July 13. Within a few days, after the hotelier tried to push her into prostitution, she called up her parents and complained to them. Relatives then contacted the placement agent who had helped her in getting the job. When the agent asked Tipu to send her back, the latter demanded R2 lakh. Afraid that if he didn't pay, the woman would be harmed, the agent paid Tipu, got her back and then approached the cops. An officer said, "As per the agent's complaint, we registered an FIR and then verified the allegations by speaking to the victim over the phone. Based on that, we arrested the accused. We have asked her to come to our office by November 5 to record her detailed statement."

Casting the net
During interrogation, the accused told the police that they would approach women through job placement agents having contacts in multiple places - Bharatpur, Alwar, Agra, West Bengal and Nepal among others. They would select victims between the ages of 25 and 30 and promise them handsome salaries for a three-month 'posting'. Monthly salaries ranged between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh, paid in lump sum according to a woman's beauty. Sources revealed the accused have shipped off 500-odd women for this, and the crime branch is trying to reach as many as possible.

500
No. of women the accused sent abroad

Rs 1 lakh
Maximum monthly salary the accused paid some women

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