During interrogation, the accused revealed that they watched, selected, trapped and forced minor girls studying in reputed colleges, after taking their private videos in Mangaluru, into prostitution to entertain influential politicians and top officers from neighbouring Kerala state.
The investigating officers are also probing the involvement of Kerala politicians and bureaucrats in the sex racket. The network operated with their full support and accused in the case allowed elite customers from Kerala only.
Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the issue, the case has now been transferred from Mangaluru South Police Station to the City Crime Branch (CCB), police sources said.
The police themselves are shocked with the details and suspect the accused to have trapped many minor college students in the district into the flesh trade. The Mangaluru police have arrested three persons, a couple and another woman in connection with the case. They have also rescued two pre-university college students studying in reputed colleges in the coastal town.
The accused have been identified as Shameena, Siddiq and Ayeshamma.
While Siddiq and Shameena are couple who trapped minor students and carried out the racket in the limits of Mangaluru South Police Station in the penthouse of an apartment, Ayeshamma coordinated from Kasargod and sent elite customers.
The accused sent youths to befriend gullible good-looking girls studying in class 10th and PUC (Class 11, 12). Once the girls were befriended they were brought to a penthouse fitted with CCTV cameras by the youth.
The accused would then blackmail them saying that their private videos would be made public and sent to their parents.
According to police, the racket was going on since long but gullible minor girls were targetted on the requests of the clients. Girls with weak financial background were also roped in with promise of monetary help.
The nexus came to light, when one of the 17-year-old victims shared her ordeal with her friend.
When the matter reached the Principal, she had called the police helpline. Mangaluru Police Commissioner N. Shahikumar formed a team under the leadership of DCP (Law and Order) Hariram Shankar and conducted raids and arrested the culprits on Thursday.
The police are also looking into the angle of clients being blackmailed by the accused. The case has been registered under various sections of the Pocso Act and Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.