Gorakhpur. Illegal prostitution running under the guise of hotels and hookah bars in the city has been busted. The case came to light when on January 2, 2025, Ramgarhtal police station recovered a 13-year-old kidnapped girl.
The statement of the girl revealed that she was forcibly pushed into the prostitution business. After this, the police raided Hotel Fly-in and its hookah bar located at Geeta Vatika in Shahpur. This raid was conducted under the leadership of ASP Asna Chaudhary.
After this incident, on January 10 and 13, two other teenagers accused the hotel operator and his associates of gang rape. On February 9, a young woman working in the hotel also lodged a complaint at Shahpur police station against three people including the operator of the hotel and hookah bar for forced prostitution.
Sections of human trafficking and prostitution were added in this case, after which its investigation was handed over to CO Cantt and Gorakhnath. So far, 14 accused have been arrested and sent to jail, while investigation of 15 other suspects is going on. In the police investigation, the names of four other hotels of Mohaddipur, AIIMS and GIDA area have also come to the fore, where illegal prostitution has been reported to be operating.
The police is preparing to crack down on them as well. In the police investigation, the name of Nandini, a resident of Deoria, has also come to the fore, whose search is on. Apart from this, preparations are underway to take action against the accused who have gone to jail along with tightening the noose on the hotel operators.
Police had found pictures of 70 girls
Police investigation revealed that the gang leader and members were making the lives of innocent girls hell by trapping them on the pretext of friendship. Reshma and hookah bar operator Anirudh Ojha would first befriend the girls through Instagram and Facebook, then bring them to the hookah bar where they would first trap them in their net by making them addicted to drugs and then blackmail them and push them into the business of prostitution.
Strict action will be taken against the gang running prostitution under the guise of hookah bar. Four separate cases have been registered against the gang leader and members in Shahpur and Ramgarhtal police stations. – Abhinav Tyagi, SP City
On checking the mobile phones of the accused sent to jail, pictures of more than 70 girls have been recovered. On the basis of these pictures, it is being estimated that these girls were sent to different hotels, where they were made to do illegal work. This network was so big that it included many hotels and hookah bars.
These people have been arrested
The arrested accused include hookah bar operator Anirudh Ojha, Fly Inn Hotel owner Anurag Kumar Singh, Mohanapur’s Akash Yadav, Bichhiya’s Rohit Chhetri and Vinay Sahni, Aditya Maurya, Nikhil Singh, Basti Munderwa’s Umri Ahara resident Rajan alias Wasim Ahmed, Hardoi’s Vimal and Suraj Vishwakarma, Reshma Khan, Muskan and Shrey Shukla. Apart from this, cases are likely to be registered against the owners and employees of four more hotels. According to the police, evidence of involvement of 15 more people in this gang has been found.
