Police to ban pimps entry into twin cities

BHUBANESWAR: Police are planning to impose a ban on the entry of notorious pimp Sunil Meher, 35, in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to check sex trade here. Police said Meher has been arrested at least seven times here since 2010 and had links with almost all sex rackets busted in the past few months.
"We are exploring the legal feasibility of imposing 'tadipar' punishment on Meher.If our legal wing gives us the nod, I will issue the order against him. He will face exemplary punishment if he is seen in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack," said commissioner of police R P Sharma.
Police geared up after busting a sex den from a guesthouse in Nayapalli late on Monday.
Police arrested 12 people and rescued four women. Police said the racket was being operated by Meher, who was not present during the raid. Meher was last arrested by Chandrasekharpur police here in July 2014.
A resident of Sambalpur district, Meher was first arrested in Bhubaneswar in May 2010. He was nabbed from a guesthouse with some women under Infocity police limits. After coming out on bail, he went back to the business again and was arrested in December 2010 from Chandrasekharpur.
"Old habits die hard. He was arrested several times between 2010 and 2015. He did not learn from his mistakes and continued with the trade that fetched him quick money," said a police officer.
Police said Meher earned nearly Rs 10 lakh a month as he used to supply women to high-end clients in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. He charged not less than Rs 5,000 a woman for a night.
The four girls, who were caught from a Nayapalli guesthouse on Monday, came from Mumbai by flight. Police recovered flight tickets from them.
Police said Meher started operating from Kolkata in 2011 after being arrested twice in 2010. His luck ran out as he was arrested by police in Kolkata in December 2011.
Police said Meher, whose family is settled in Berhampur, is married. "He had set up a garment shop in Berhampur and came to Bhubaneswar in 2008 where he started the prostitution business. He used to take houses rent only from owners, who stayed outside the state or country, to run sex rackets. Most of those rented houses were located at lonely places in Bhubaneswar," the officer said.