AMRESH PARAB | NT
PANAJI: Arresting pimps involved in prostitution rackets is turning out to be a challenge for the Goa police, as the pimps are now adopting a different modus operandi to avoid getting caught.
According to police, there is a change in the method of the operations of pimps and it is evident from the fact that not all police raids have been successful. The pimps now ask the girls (victims) to hire a taxi, meet the customer at a designated location and subsequently collect the money.
“Earlier, the pimps used to come, deliver the girl to a prospective customer and collect the money. Later, they (pimps) adopted a new style of functioning. The girls were sent along with the driver (taxi) and the driver used to collect money from the customers,” said Arun Pandey, director of Anyay Rahit Zindagi (ARZ). ARZ is the nodal non-government organisation (NGO) for anti- human trafficking unit of the Goa police.
Pandey said that it has now turned out to be a challenge for the cops to nab the pimps owing to a change in method of their operation.
“Now it has come to light that there is a change in the modus operandi in order to avoid getting caught by the police. Once the customers contact the pimps, they ask girls to hire a taxi and go at a designated location. The money also is collected by the girls themselves,” said Pandey adding that “this, in turn, has become difficult for the police to nab the pimps. However, it is also not impossible to crack down on such persons provided there is proper investigation.”
Pandey said there could be around 100 pimps operating in Goa and owing to police raids, the pimps, especially those caught earlier, keep on changing their method of operation.
According to police, though on a number of occasions, pimps and other persons associated with the flesh trade have been nabbed, the main accused, however, seldom come into the picture. Reports suggest that on an average around 100-150 girls are rescued every year from prostitution in Goa.
Police suspect that pimps take utmost care before going ahead with the deal as they know how raids are conducted by police, who use decoy customers. “Pimps tend to crosscheck with the hotel where the customer claims to have stayed. Pimps also make use of true caller (software) to ascertain the name of the customer and even check the social networking websites to ascertain the identity of the customer,” said a police officer.
It is only after verification to their satisfaction that it is not a police trap that the pimps proceed with the deal. First the pimp will contact and discuss the price and even the girls contact the customers, said a police officer. “After this, a taxi is hired and the girls are dropped at some distance short of the designated place. Then the customer is contacted again,” claimed the police officer adding that pimps frequently tend to change their plans, the destination and so on.
Nabbing the main accused pimp becomes difficult, as it is the subordinate pimps who run the show. Sometimes, the use of technology to track the accused (through mobile phone) also becomes ineffective as the SIM cards are acquired by such persons by using fake identity proofs. “They carry multiple mobiles as well as SIM cards, which can be easily obtained in a fraudulent manner in some states in North India,” claimed a police officer.