A hi-tech prostitution racket was busted at Seethammapeta area in the city by the Dwaraka Police Station on Tuesday.
The police team, led by Circle-Inspector Shanmukha Rao, also rescued two girls who were being used in the racket and arrested two organisers and a customer.
The arrested were Pyla Neelakanta Reddy alias Akhil and Karri Shravani Reddy from Visakhapatnam. The rescued girls were from Nellore and Vizianagaram.
According to Mr. Shanmukha Rao, the main accused, Akhil, a native of Sheelanagar in Visakhapatnam, was earlier running a flesh trade at Ameerpet in Hyderabad. After suffering losses he moved to Viskhapatnam seven months ago and started the racket, online.
His modus operandi was to contact customers through a website by name ‘online call girls @vizag’. He would advertise his mobile number on the website and would negotiate the rate and place over phone, with those who called him, said the inspector.
Contact point
It is learnt that he acted as a contact point for many organisers such as Shravani in the city. After negotiating the deal, he would send customers to one of the service providers or organisers.
According to Mr. Shanmukha Rao, the main accused would charge 30 per cent of the amount negotiated for every customer from the organisers.
The inspector further said that most of the girls hailed from various districts such as Nellore, East and West Godavari and Vizianagaram.
“It is learnt that the organisers have contacts across many states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, and Jharkhand and the girls keep changing every week. It appears to be a pan India network and Akhil had been doing this business since last seven months in the city,” said the Inspector.
The organisers were booked under various sections of Immoral Trafficking Act. The police are investigating the case. The rescued girls were sent to an observation home.
Two girls from Nellore and Vizianagaram have been rescued