Police have arrested a man accused of luring women from outside the State on the pretext of providing jobs and forcing them into prostitution. The accused, Deepak Dhanuk (29), was arrested in connection with an organised sex trafficking racket operating through several hotels in the city. The case came to light after a 39-year-old woman from South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal lodged a complaint at Women’s Police Station. She alleged that while working as a domestic helper in Delhi, she was contacted by a man named Deepak, who promised her employment in Jabalpur. According to the complaint, after arriving in Jabalpur on July 11, she was accommodated in a hotel in Gorakhpur area. The following day, Deepak forced her into prostitution by threatening to kill her if she refused.

 

She claimed that multiple customers were sent to her and that most of the money paid by them was taken by the accused. The woman further charged that another accused, identified as Arvind, later shifted her to different hotels, where she was again forced into prostitution along with other women. She also named Roshni Patel and Shiv Kumar alias Akash as members of the racket. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant provisions of BNS and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Acting on the directions of Superintendent of Police Sampat Upadhyay, a team led by Additional SP Anu Beniwal and Women’s Police Station In-charge Manju Sharma arrested Deepak Dhanuk. During interrogation, police seized his mobile phone and reportedly recovered WhatsApp chats containing photographs of women sent to customers. Police said the accused confessed that women were brought from different states and districts on the pretext of employment, supplied to customers in various hotels, and that customers were charged Rs 2,000, of which Rs 500 was paid to the woman, Rs 500 to the hotel, while the remaining amount was retained by the racket. Dhanuk has been produced before the court, while efforts are on to trace and arrest remaining accused.