Flesh trade: 2 foreigners rescued in Chennai

The accused are S Mathiazhagan (21) and A Pandian (20)  of Salem, M Mohammed Haasan (22) and S Murali (41) of Chennai.

Acting on a tip-off, police officers closely monitored a few five-star hotels in the city for over a week. On Thursday night, a team headed by Assistant Commissioner Maheshwari and Inspector Mahalakshmi raided the five-star hotel on Radhakrishnan Salai in Mylapore. Two women were rescued and four brokers arrested after the operation.

“The perpetrators contacted two women hailing from Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and brought them to the country using tourist visas. The women were initially taken to Delhi and Mumbai, and Chennai was their last stop,” police said and added the network had been operating clandestinely for over a year now, adding that it operated throughout the country, with customer base spread across the metropolitan cities.

The well-established racket, which has its roots in Bengaluru, carried out all its activities online to evade authorities’ attention. Customers booked their slots online and thus avoided any direct communication with the operators. The women have been sent to a rehabilitation centre in the city.