Bigger parlour flesh trade racket expected to be busted
PTI, PANAJI | 04 September 2012 22:01 IST
Goa police is working on unearthing an alleged human trafficking racket based on the crucial leads they have received from the girls rescued from two massage parlours in Panaji.
Ten girls from Thailand, who were allegedly working as sex workers and call girls in two different massage parlours, were rescued by Panaji police last weekend.
Police now say that the interrogation of the girls has provided links to a bigger racket of human trafficking between Thailand and India.
"We have tried to know how they became commercial sex workers. The stress is on to know who trafficked them from Thailand. We have got certain clues on which we will be working," Deputy Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar told PTI today.
Police are also verifying whether the girls willingly opted for the flesh trade.
"They had arrived on tourist visa here. Even if they were involved in working in massage parlour without indulging in prostitution, they can be booked under Foreigners Registration Act," Gaonkar said.
Police have already arrested Elton Furtado, a Goan businessman, who was running both the massage parlours.
Investigations have also revealed that the girls had failed to fill the mandatory C-form, police said.
The arrested businessman was shuffling the girls between his parlours, police said, adding that Elton himself is married to a girl from Thailand.
Good for Goa Police. They can have the cake and eat it too !