Two pimps arrested at Calangute

Panaji: The crime branch of the Goa police raided an area at Naika Vaddo, Calangute , on Wednesday and arrested Akshay Karnwal, 27, from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh and Tophik Lakhimhar, 27, from Curti, Ponda, for pushing two girls into prostitution.

The girls, both natives of Maharashtra, were rescued and lodged in the state protective home at Merces.

Officials of the crime branch said they received reliable information that two persons were supplying girls for prostitution at Calangute. A decoy customer was subsequently arranged and police personnel, along with the representative of an NGO, laid a trap in Calangute.

Both, Karnwal and Lakhimhar, were rounded up by the police as soon as they arrived at the spot with the two girls in their car. They were placed under arrest under various sections of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.

During the raid, police seized a two-wheeler, a four-wheeler, cash and mobile phones.

Further investigation by crime branch PI Jivba Dalvi is in progress, under the supervision of DySP Mahesh Gaonkar and SP Bosco George.