Hyderabad: Pimps in and around the city are offering the option of digital payment to their clients to avail their ‘services’. This came to light during the recent crackdown on online prostitution rackets.
With the public gradually using online payment platforms and online bank transactions, pimps are accepting e-payments when the customer demands it. The police suspect they also use Point of Sale machines to swipe debit cards.
“After demonetisation there were regulations on withdrawal from banks and ATMs went dry. People who managed the business of sex workers thought of offering this option, too”, said Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh M. Bhagwat.
In the past one year, the Rachakonda police raided around 50 places and caught several pimps. The women are brought from Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi and Pune on contract for weekly or fortnightly basis. The pimps create a PayTM account and ask customers to transfer money. Some provide the option of transferring money online to accounts in other cities.
Mr Bhagwat says, “Our primary focus is to rescue the women and arrest the organisers. Tracking the payment mode is our next plan.”
Deputy commissioner of police, task force, B. Limba Reddy said the organisers were booking hotels, flight and train tickets and making payments through online payment gateways. “The customers and the organisers contact through online classified sites and websites. New customers are asked to pay in cash while the old ones are offered the option of online payments”, he said.
An official said to select customers the organisers provide bank accounts of persons in other cities. Once the customer makes the payment, the account holder gets a text message and he/she immediately withdraws the money from ATMs. “The account holders are money mules. After retaining their commission, they transfer the money to organisers,” the official said.
