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Five accused in prostitution racket acquitted finding lapses in probe

Cops fail to follow PITA guidelines

Hyderabad: A city court recently acquitted five persons arrested for running a prostitution racket in the city. after finding several lapses in the investigation. Besides, the victim and the mediators turned hostile during the trial.

The case revolved around a Begumpet police raid in the year 2015 during which they claimed to have busted the racket running out of a city hotel and rescued a woman. The accused were declared not guilty since the raid and the investigation were not done as per the guidelines laid down under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA).

Acting on a tip-off, a Begumpet sub-inspector along with his team conducted a decoy operation and arrested five persons including the organisers and rescued the victim.

Under cross-examination, the SI admitted that he did not examine the hotel staff and that he was not a special officer appointed under the PITA. He also admitted he did not get a woman as a witness during the raid and while recording the confessions of the accused.

The SI informed that he conducted the raid as he was authorised by the ACP, but the court pointed out that even if the senior officer had authorised someone, “he should keep in mind that a police officer not below the rank of the inspector of police (is) to be nominated or appointed to conduct the raid.”

Counsels for the accused contended before the court that the “entire action of the police is contrary to the provisions of the PITA rules and also the witnesses and victims did not state anything against the accused.”

Agreeing with them, the court, “the prosecution did not prove the complicity of the accused in the case and it failed to establish the offences against the accused”, and acquitted all five accused.

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