ZIRO, 3 Sep: The state police have busted an interstate sex racket here in Lower Subansiri district, rescuing four victim girls and arresting eight individuals allegedly involved in the crime.
The arrests were made on the receipt of an input on 29 August about a prostitution ring running in the SSB gate area here by one June Hazarika and her husband Ikramul Islam.
Accordingly, a special investigation team under the supervision of Lower Subansiri SP Keni Bagra conducted a raid at the alleged brothel-cum-apartment of June Hazarika and Ikramul Islam and rescued four victim girls, among whom two are minors aged 15 and 16 years, and arrested the couple along with one Sudangsu Mandal and June Mandal.
During initial inquiry, it emerged that one victim, aged 15 years, from Assam’s Dhemaji, had been staying with June Hazarika for a week. She had been brought to Ziro on supposed grounds of domestic work, but was forced into immoral activities, the SP informed in a release.
Another minor girl was brought to Ziro from Lakhimpur by Suddangsu Mandal and June Mandal on 27 August on the pretext of sightseeing in Ziro, and was forced into prostitution.
The team also arrested two other alleged accused, Anura Khatun @ Jasmine and Md Mustafizur Rehman, for trafficking of minor girls. Both of them are associates of traffickers/pimps June Hazarika and Ikramul Islam.
The investigation further revealed that the pimps would share photos of the minor girls through WhatsApp in search of probable customers, and fix rates and negotiate.
“Thereafter customers would come down to the alleged brothel – the apartment of June Hazarika – and sexually assault the victim girls, pay the pimps and leave,” the release said.
“There were also instances when customers drove the victim minor girls with them to another location for immoral activities. Based on the disclosures of pimps June Hazarika and Anura Khatun and Md Mustafizur Rehman, the special investigation team arrested two alleged accused customers, Md Hasan Ali Sheikh and Md Jahangir Hussain Sheik,” it said.
A case (u/s 98, 99 BNS r/w Sec 4/8/12 POCSO Act and Sec 3/4/5 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act) has been registered at the women police station here.
Women Police Station OC Inspector Amo Pansa is investigating the case.
