Kyrgyz woman rescued from sex racket

Bhubaneswar: A woman from Kyrgyzstan was rescued from a flat in Bhubaneswar where she was allegedly brought by a group suspected of running a sex racket, police said today.

The woman in her mid-thirties visited Goa and Bangalore in February before she was was brought here by an agent from Kolkata, Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrat Bhoi told reporters.

“We have requested the Kyrgyzstan Embassy in New Delhi to provide her travelling and other details. We will go for further investigation after getting the details,” Bhoi said.

The woman is in India on a tourist visa which expires on March 31.

The language of the woman, who is presently accommodated in a state-run home, is a barrier in questioning her, he said.

She would be handed over to officials of her country’s embassy on their arrival here, police said.

In the raid on Wednesday in which the Kyrgyz woman was rescued, one person identified as Somesh Panda was arrested.

Panda was an associate of suspected sex racket kingpin Sunil Meher, who managed to escape during Wednesday’s raid, police said.

Stating that the racket used to lure rich people with foreigner women, the officials said, adding a special team has been set up to nab Meher who has earlier been in police custody.

Meanwhile, Bhoi said the police will summon the owner of the flat to know whether he had verified the identity of the tenant before renting out his flat.

PTI