Odisha: 12 houses to be declared ‘brothels’ in twin city

Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate police is planning to declare 12 establishments raided for operating sex racket as ‘brothels’ in twin city Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Among the establishments, H2O Spa located at Bapuji Nagar area in the state capital from where eight young girls belonging to Thailand were rescued and nine customers were arrested recently, will be declared as brothel.

The move came after the explanations made by the establishment owners were not satisfactory to the Commissionerate police. The houses where the sex rackets were running, will be declared brothels, informed a senior police official.

Earlier, the establishment owners were asked to make their stand clear in a special court of the Commissionerate police following the sex racket busted in those houses.

Notably, the Commisionerate police have busted 12 sex rackets in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in the past one and half years. While four houses were raided in Cuttack and police arrested the kingpins and pimps and rescued the sex workers during a series of raids at eight houses in various locations in Bhubaneswar during the period.

Source said that the sex rackets were operating in knowledge of the house owners. While the sex workers in those rackets have been officially termed as the prostitutes, the houses where the racket was operating will be declared as brothels.

With declaration of those houses as brothels, the Commissionerate police will seal those premises for a period of one year under section 18 (1) of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 from the date of its actual attachment. During the period, the house owners will not be allowed to file petition in any court. Besides, the public places like educational institutions, temples and clubs attached to the houses will be informed through a letter regarding the status of the house.

Earlier, seven establishments were declared closed by the Commissionerate police following the raids during the period from 2014 to 2016. They included Hotel Nirmal Palace, Ashok Nagar; Hotel Janat Palace, Bapuji Nagar; Maitry Guest House, Maitri Vihar; Khusbu Beauty Parlour, Cuttack Road; One Star Beauty Parlour, Old Station Bazaar; a house at VSS Nagar (all in Bhubaneswar) and one house at Ranihat Chhak in Cuttack.