LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Six Nepali girls rescued from bothel in Pune

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, May 21: Six Nepalese girls were rescued from a brothel in Pune, Indian recently after police raided the local red-light area at the call of the Mumbai branch of Maiti Nepal. The girls were brought to Nepal today along with the two girl traffickers, Navaraj Lamsal and Sanjay Shrestha, who had sold them. They however said they have several aliases.

Lamsal of Dhading and Shrestha of Sankhu, Kathmandu, who at the age 20 and 18, were already notorious girl traffickers, were arrested three days ago by the Indian police in Pune, India, after a tip from Mumbai branch of Maiti Nepal. Lamsal had already taken twelve girls and sold them at Pune.

They were arrested from Shri Krishna Lodge in Pune, where they had booked a room for a month. Only two weeks back they had taken two girls - Pratima and Sita of Pokhara – to Pune and sold them in a brothel for Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000.

The two traffickers have now been brought to Nepal and are in police custody at Hanuman Dhoka. The two girls were crossed the border through Siddharthanagar and were sold at Sushma’s brothel in India.

But it was lucky for the girls that the traffickers had disclosed their plan and their whereabouts in Pune to one Tek Bahadur. While staying in Pokhara, Lamsal and Shrestha had kept Tek Bahadur as a servant to help them in the kitchen.

When the two girls, and also those two, were found missing police was informed. Maiti Nepal suspecting the obvious informed its branch in Mumbai. Then Tek Bahadur was nabbed and was questioned and he narrated everything that it was them who had taken the girls to Pune and also their address. This was conveyed to Maiti Nepal’s Mumbai office.

The Mumbai office then acted swiftly and with the help of the Indian police caught those in the lodge.

Manoj Acharya, President of Maiti Nepal (Mumbai) said he had to take a girl named Babita Lama who had been rescued from brothel and disguise themselves as traffickers to catch Lamsal and Shrestha.

Lamsal and Shrestha had not yet received the payment of the girls. Acharya told them that in that case they had to get the girls back. Just then, the police, as planned, raided the lodge and arrested them. The two were then taken to the brothel to identify the girls. There he also identified four other girls he had sold before at the same brothel. Lamsal said three more girls, also his victims, could not be found.

Then all the six girls were taken out of the brothel under the charge of Maiti Nepal (Mumbai) and were brought to Nepal.

Talking before the press today at the Maiti Nepal office, Lamsal said that he started trafficking girls one year ago and has already sold 12 girls to brothels in India.

Lamsal said he has passed S.L.C. in 2053 B.S. and was studying I.Com. in Saraswati Campus. He said while studying in the Campus he had worked as cook for six months at the house of Rishi Dhamala, President of Reporters’ Club.

He left after some misunderstanding and while looking for job met with one Bikash of Hetauda and through him he met Rudra Bahadur Katwal and to Rakesh, whom he called as their boss.

Lamsal said Rudra told him that they were gold merchants and to bring the gold from India, they needed girl because the girls are not checked in the border. But actually they all were girl trafickers.

Later, he said, he met a woman called Sushila. Sushila was tricked and was sold by Rakesh. Lamsal said he came to know about it, but was threatened by them. Instead of looking for Sushila, he too got involved into selling women.

For Sanjay, it was the third time. They both said there about 25 to 30 people working with Rakesh and others in selling girls to India.

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