Howrah cops bust Bihar sex racket

HOWRAH: Around 14 girls, at least two of them from Bengal, sold to the sex and nude dance trade were rescued from Siwan and Bhagalpur in Bihar during raids by Howrah City Police and Bihar Police at racketeers’ hideouts on Sunday.
Two persons, including a Serampore-based private tutor of one of the girls, have been arrested by Howrah City Police. Howrah City Police DC (north) Bhaskar Mukherjee said, “We are interrogating Anil Nirana of Siwan and Pappu Singh of Serampore, both of whom are in our custody.” A Dankuni-based woman, allegedly involved in the racket, is absconding.
Both girls from Bengal were residents of Howrah.
The older one, 16 years old, who went missing from Belur’s Joy Bibi Road in January this year, was rescued from Siwan on Sunday night and is being brought home by the police. The other girl, 13, was from Nazirgunge.
She was brought to Howrah on Sunday after her rescue from Bhagalpur.
Police sources said the racket would target poor girls from Howrah and lure them with promises of jobs.They would later be taken to Bihar and forced to perform at nude dance shows in rural areas and then introduced into the sex trade.
The Belur girl's family had lodged an abduction complaint after she went missing. The Nazirgunge girl went missing after she left to attend tuition classes.