Uttar Pradesh: Human Trafficking Racket Busted In Ghaziabad Hotel, Foreigners Among 500 Girls Rescued

Ghaziabad: A major sex racket operating from a hotel called Mahagun Sarovar Portigo was uncovered in Vaishali, Ghaziabad, on Wednesday. Police arrested three people, while some of the accused remain at large. During the raid, police recovered 11 girls from the hotel, hailing from various states. Photos of 500 girls were recovered from the manager's phone, revealing the scale of the racket. Prostitution was facilitated by sending photos and rates to customers via WhatsApp.

Those arrested include hotel manager Rahul Sharma (46), who is believed to be the mastermind of the racket. Waiters Sunil Singh (39) and Ankit Chauhan (19) were also arrested. ACP Indirapuram Abhishek Srivastava stated that based on a tip-off, he and police teams raided the hotel in Sector 3F, Vaishali. As soon as the police arrived, chaos erupted. Police rescued 11 young women from various rooms of the hotel who were brought there for prostitution. Some escaped during the raid.

Are the accused still absconding?

The ACP said that the team arrested hotel manager Rahul Sharma, Ankit Chauhan, resident of Kasimpur Power House, Jawa police station, Aligarh district, and Sunil, resident of village Dabhi, Akrabad police station, Aligarh district. Sumit Rawat, resident of Kotdwar, Uttarakhand, Rahul, Nirdosh, and Afzal, who were involved in the racket, are absconding. Police are searching for them. Nirdosh is also said to be associated with a political party.

Where did the girls come from?

A police officer stated that the raid was conducted at the hotel around 2 pm following a tip-off. He said, "The girls rescued from the hotel are aged 21 to 31. They are residents of Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal, and Odisha." During interrogation, the girls revealed that Rahul had brought them to the hotel under the pretext of employment and pressured them into the illicit trade.

According to a police officer, the women revealed during interrogation that they were charged 15,000-20,000 rupees from customers, while they were paid 5,000 rupees per night. Some women also revealed that foreign girls also came to the hotel as sex workers. According to Rahul, he would send photos of the girls to customers on WhatsApp, which would then lead to their arrival at the hotel. Additionally, the girls were also sent to other hotels with customers, with room bookings made online. According to a Times of India report, police recovered photos of more than 500 girls and phone numbers of more than 100 customers from the manager's phone.