Kanpur: Nine girls were rescued after police in Uttar Pradesh broke up an online sex ring that was operating for some years, reports said.
Police raided a house in the city of Kanpur and made 11 arrests - including agents running the illegal ring and their customers. Police moved in after following a link on Twitter which contained numbers for customers to contact, Senior Superintendent of Police, Preetinder Singh said.
Police deployed an undercover agent who led investigators to the sex ring before it was broken up.
"We have arrested Ashish Kumar, a resident of Naubasta. On the basis of inputs provided by him, we then arrested Raju. They informed investigators that the girls hailing from another state are being handed over to customers by a broker Kalpana Gupta," the SSP said.
Twenty-one mobile phones, two motorcycles and two scooters were seized from the men who were arrested.
The women involved in the illegal business belonged to Assam, Delhi and Faizabad and they were either forced or tricked into joining, police said.
Information provided by the women is being shared with authorities across India to hunt down sex offenders in the country, police told ETV Bharat.
A case has been registered under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act and efforts are on to find others involved in the crime.
Read Uttar Pradesh: Sex racket operating from parlour busted
Also read: Online sex racket busted in Mumbai, one held
IANS inputs added
