PANAJI
The Crime Branch of Goa Police on Monday night at Calangute arrested the mastermind of the online sex racket busted last week in Calangute. The operation last week had witnessed the rescue of eight girls and arrest of eight accused.
Deepak Banik, the mastermind of the racket, was the ninth person to be arrested in connection with the case and has been remanded to three days' police custody by JMFC, Mapusa.
Officers of the Crime Branch tracked the location of Banik by monitoring the website through which the entire racket was being operated.
It was disclosed that the victims rescued through police action as well as the eight co-accused had named Banik over the course of questioning.
Among the accused was Gauresh Patekar from Mandrem, who was the sole accused of Goan origin, Meghna Nair from East Mumbai, Sumana Das from Kolkata, Raniji Ranvir from Nanded, Chandrashekhar Mehra from Orissa, Ayu Mehar from Orissa, Daksh Bansode from Nanded and Uttam Behera from Orissa.
All the eight accused were booked under Section 370 of IPC and Section 3,4,5,6 and 7 Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and were remanded to seven days’ police custody.
