Mumbai Crime: Cops crack down on online escort services, arrest two

Almost after a month's probe, the SSB sleuths arrested two male pimps from near a guesthouse at Cuffe Parade and rescued two women

Mumbai Crime: Cops crack down on online escort services, arrest two

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Last month the Mumbai Police swung into action after they received a tip off regarding websites illegally providing escort services in the city. Following an order of CP Sanjay Barve, Joint CP Ashutosh Dumbare held a meeting with Social Service Branch (SSB) officials and zeroed in on a number of websites. Almost after a month's probe, the SSB sleuths arrested two male pimps from near a guesthouse at Cuffe Parade and rescued two women.

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The accused have been identified as Prashant Rajak, 40, and Kishore Mandal, 34. Mastermind Ashish went underground after the SSB team conducted a raid last week. A Crime Branch source said, "The website MumbaiHotCollection.com, registered on GoDaddy.com, offers prostitutes including high-profile models. It displays their photographs as well. A mobile number mentioned on the website helps potential customers to get connected."

"If you dial the number, a 'hi' would soon be sent to your WhatsApp. Thereafter, the conversation would continue. The mastermind sends photographs of girls to finalise the deal. Once the girl is finalised, they would ask the customer whether he wanted to book the hotel room or would prefer a girl with a booked hotel room. If the customer wishes to book the room, then they would ask for the hotel details to crosscheck," the source said. In order to catch the accused red-handed, the SSB officials placed dummy customers and finalised deals for two girls at Rs 45,000 each.

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"We had booked rooms at the Royal Guest House in Cuffe Parade. However, the mastermind had sent four girls in two separate cars to ensure that the services were not delayed. However, only two girls could be rescued," said a police officer. He further said, "A case has been registered against the accused under the PITA Act. The probe team is trying to find out how the website got registered on GoDaddy.com."