Madhya Pradesh police cyber crime cell busts a sex racket of nine members including BJP SC morcha state media-incharge Neeraj Shakya (seen encircle) in Bhopal. (Photo:PTI)

Bhopal: A ruling BJP leader and five accomplices were arrested for running an online sex racket, the police said on Friday. The arrests came after the police raided two houses in a posh locality here late on Thursday night.

“As many as nine people, including three customers, were arrested following raids in two houses in the city. Besides, four women who were forced into the flesh trade by the traffickers were rescued,” superintendent of police, state police cyber cell, Shailendra Chouhan, said.

Those arrested for running the online sex racket included Neeraj Sakya, 33, state media in-charge of BJP’s scheduled caste cell here. He was later expelled from the party following the exposure of his alleged involvement in the sex racket. This was the second time in the past three months that the BJP in Madhya Pradesh landed in embarrassment after the involvement of some party cadres in immoral activities was exposed.

Earlier in February, three BJP cadres, including the city IT cell chief of the party, Dhruv Saxena, were arrested on charges of helping Pakistani spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to gain access to defence bases in the country through private telephone exchanges set up illegally by them in different parts of Madhya Pradesh.

The cyber cell had been keeping a vigil on the online sex racket for the last three months before busting it on Thursday night, the police said. The racketeers kept track of girls who were desperate for jobs in social media and trap them by promising employment. Those arrested included real estate businessmen. The BJP leader, said to be kingpin of the racket, was into real estate business.