Online sex racket prime suspect is Bahrain resident?

The prime suspect, in an online sex racket busted by the Indian police recently, is believed to be a Bahrain resident. Abdul Khader alias Akbar, who hails from Kasargode in the south Indian state of Kerala, is apparently the kingpin of the gang.

He is currently in the custody of the Kerala Police and being questioned, said Inspector General of Police (Crimes) S Sreejith. Rahul Pasupalan, one of the organisers of the 'Kiss of Love' protest against moral policing, played the role of the intermediary who handed over trafficked girls to customers in the online sex racket that the police busted on November 17.

Mr Sreejith said that Rahul used to hand over trafficked girls to customers. His wife and model Reshmi is also an accused in the case. The couple were engaged in the racket for one year. Meanwhile police decoys got in touch with Akbar, masquerading as customers and they were sent photographs of Reshmi along with details.

Discussions were held and lot of bargaining went on, the official said. The gang operated by placing ads on the Internet that showed pictures of girls, including children. Akbar was supposedly handling at least nine websites to facilitate the online sex racket. The police officer further said that they are collecting information from the racket's social media activities.

He added that there was no need for statements or confessions from the accused as police had digital evidence for their involvement in the crime. According to police Akbar is also a notorious gangster.

Giving further details of the people arrested in the police operation code-named 'Big Daddy', Mr Sreejith said that a Keralite woman named Lineesh Mathew, based in Bengaluru (a city in the south Indian state of Karnataka), used to traffic girls from parts of Karnataka for the sex racket.

She is also among those arrested. She had trafficked two underage girls from Karnataka to Kerala to offer them to customers. The girls are being questioned and efforts are on to track their parents, the officer added. Two other women, identified by police, however managed to escape after their vehicle knocked down a police official.

They are expected to be nabbed soon. Two other men were also arrested. On November 2 last year, 'Kiss of Love' protest, organised by Rahul, Reshmi and others, was staged in Kerala in a campaign to protest moral policing.

Similar events were then organised in cities across the nation, including New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The campaign started after a coffee shop in Kerala was vandalised by a group of people who were reportedly protesting against 'public display of affection' by some couples there.