New Delhi based Godman, air hostesses held for running sex racket


A self-styled godman who preached spirituality while running a prostitution racket and two air hostesses were among eight people arrested for flesh trade here, police said Friday.

The eight, including two men and six women in the age group of 19 to 30 years, were taken into custody near the PVR cinema at Saket in south Delhi Thursday while travelling in two cars.

They included an air hostess who worked for an Indian carrier and another who was employed by a European airline.

The mastermind was identified as Shiv Murat Dwivedi, 39, alias Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale.

Deputy Commissioner of Police HGS Dhaliwal said that Dwivedi belonged to Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh. He came to New Delhi in 1988 and worked as a security guard at a five-star hotel in Nehru Place.

He later worked for a massage parlour at Lajpat Nagar. He was arrested for carrying out prostitution 1997 and 1998, Dhaliwal said.
“Dwivedi then changed his appearance and started calling himself Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale. He was based at a Sai Baba temple in Badarpur and gradually started a flourishing flesh trade racket in the guise of leading a spiritual life,” he said.
Dwivedi started holding religious discourses and congregations and even got a video CD titled “Shri Sai Amrit Varsha” released. He even wrote for a magazine.
He constructed a 200-bed hospital and a huge temple in Chitrakoot.
Dhaliwal said the two air hostesses lived in posh areas of South Delhi. “One is pursuing MBA. The other is an aspiring model who wants to debut in Bollywood.”

Inter-state trafficking gang held, 10 women rescued



Fri, Feb 26 09:20 PM

Hyderabad, Feb 26 (PTI) Police today claimed to have busted an inter-state trafficking racket with the arrest of 12 persons and rescued 10 women, including three minors, who were forced into prostitution in Andhra Pradesh''s West Godavari district. Acting on a tip-off, a police team conducted a raid on the house of S Rajeswari, a resident of Tadepalligudem town in the district yesterday and rescued the girls, Eluru Range DIG Mahesh M Bhagwat said.

When the raid was made, the woman along with 11 other persons were negotiating a deal for buying and recruiting the girls for flesh trade, he said. "While the negotiations were coming to an end, the police party surrounded the house and caught the traffickers'' gang red-handed," Bhagwat said.

During interrogation the accused revealed that they used to trap poor girls by promising them jobs in Chennai, he said, adding that the gang used to sell the victims at the rate of Rs 30,000 each. The girls were sent to medical examination and the accused were being sent to judicial remand after being booked under various sections of IPC, the DIG said.

Concern over women trafficking


Staff Reporter

ELURU: Sunita Krishnan, founder of ‘Prajvala’, a Hyderabad-based non-governmental organisation working for the victims of women trafficking, on Tuesday expressed her concern over the State turning into a hub of sex tourism of late. She was speaking at a sensitisation programme on human trafficking here. In a bid to drive her point home, she said the recent raids by the police in Hyderabad had revealed that the tourists from Azerbaijan, Serbia and Uzbekistan had been descending on the State for their sexual exploits with children aged below 10 years.

A decoy operation conducted by her organisation in Hyderabad had led to the rescue of a 12-year-old high school girl from the sex work. Alarmingly, even the children in 3-4 years age group were being used for shooting of pornographic films to be sold in the European market, Ms. Sunita said.

She regretted that the Internet turned out to be a convenient market channel for sex tourists.

The activist said the increasing consumerism allegedly abetted by the media through advertisements had been forcing the women into the trafficking regardless of their economic and social status.

The societal attitude towards the victims of trafficking made it difficult for their re-integration with the mainstream society after their liberation from the traffickers, she added.

Mahesh M. Bhagavat, DIG of Police, Eluru range, appealed to the district administration to sanction a bridge school for the children of trafficking victims in the district. He regretted over the reported passive role of the Revenue Divisional Magistrates (also RDOs) in exercising their powers under the Section 18(1) of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, 1986 in closing brothels and eviction of traffickers. Superintendent of Police B. Balakrishna and Collector A. Vani Prasad spoke

In a human trafficking case of procuring minor girl for prostitution with a plan to send her to Malaysia-Singapore reported in 2007 at Eluru 2 Town P.S. of West Godavari District in A.P., on 5/2/2010, 2 traffickers are convicted for 10 years rigorous imprisonment under section 5 of Immoral Traffic Prevention act 1986, 7 years of rigorous imprisonment under 366A IPC. and 6 months of imprisonment under 417 IPC. One of the trafficker had earlier worked in Singapore- Malaysia & her passport was seized. Victim was trapped in the name of giving her admission in Nursing School at Chennai & her Passport was under prepration when raid was conducted.


Investigating officers Sub Inspector Govind Raju & Inspector Vijay Paul underwent training at AP Police academy for human trafficking under UNODC's project. Dedicated efforts of sensitized Police officers, prosecutor & Judicial Magistrate helped in getting this note worthy conviction. Anti Human trafficking Unit for Andhra region is located at Eluru

Compendium published by UNODC on best practices on anti human trafficking by Law Enforcement agencies where I have contributed