MPs had no role in sex racket: Police

A Delhi court on Saturday extended by three days the police custody of a 62-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly running a high-profile sex racket here and trafficking of women from Central Asian countries. Metropolitan magistrate Gaurav Gupta extended the custody of Pritindra Nath Sanyal, who has been allegedly held on charges of trafficking, till July 26 after the police sought his remand for further investigation in the case.

Sanyal, against whom a case was registered at Safdarjung Enclave police station on Wednesday, was earlier remanded in police custody for three days and this period expired on Saturday. The police, while seeking extension of custody, said more time was needed as the probe was still underway. According to the police, Sanyal was arrested after documents indicating his involvement in illegal activity were found during raids at his residences by income-tax authorities.

On Friday, the Delhi police gave a clean chit to two parliamentarians whose names surfaced during the probe. During investigation, it was found that Sanyal had sent messages to government servants and other senior functionaries posing as MPs and top bureaucrats for getting favours in certain business deals, the police had said. The police has also recovered photographs and other material showing Sanyal’s alleged accomplice, Col. Ajay Ahlawat (Retd), with two Indian cricketers. An investigation is on. Ahlawat has not been detained yet but he is being questioned by the police.

The matter came to the fore after Sanyal’s residences in Safdarjung Enclave and Vasant Kunj here and in Lucknow were raided by income-tax authorities in June.

Documentary evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages and SMSes were seized from his residence at Safdarjung Enclave. The IT officials had rescued a Russian national, aged about 23 years, from his residence in Safdarjung Enclave. The SMSes and WhatsApp data of the woman’s mobile phone indicated she was being kept against her will. Her travel documents, including passport, were allegedly taken away by the accused. The I-T raid had also led to the recovery from the accused’s residences of copies of passports of other foreign nationals as well as phone numbers of dozens of women belonging to Central Asian countries.

Messages exchanged between Sanyal and his associates had revealed financial transactions related to foreign women, the police said.