Online sex racket kingpin arrested in Bengaluru

Kochi: Two days after it busted an online sex racket, the Kochi police acted swiftly and arrested the kingpin from Bengaluru on Tuesday while he was trying to escape to West Bengal. The accused was identified as Rippon, 23, a resident of Pargana village in Bonga district of West Bengal. The Kochi police had on Sunday rescued a girl and arrested three persons who had ‘hired’ the girl from Rippon for five days by paying Rs 25, 000.

“The main accused arrested is the brother of the girl and was staying in Bengaluru for the last over four years. The probe revealed he was the main kingpin trapping girls by offering jobs and supplying them to small brothels. Shockingly, he had handed over his sister to the Kochi-based gang,” police said. The police had arrested Johny Joseph, 42, a native of Vytilla, and lodge owners Reji Mathew, 32, a native of Kottarakkara, and Maneesh Lal, 27, hailing from Mynagappally after raiding a lodge near the South KSRTC bus depot.

During questioning, the accused confessed that the girl was ‘supplied’ to them by the main accused. The city police acted fast and immediately dispatched a team to the Garden City. Rippon was arrested from his rented house in Nice Road, Inner Ring Road, Bengaluru. The racket used to give advertisement on Locanto, a Germany-based classified web portal, to source clients in both cities.