Navi Mumbai: Teen sisters who were dragged into prostitution by their father, were rescued by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Navi Mumbai crime branch, who arrested the pimp on Feb 20. A manhunt was launched for the father of the two girls. Prithviraj Ghorpade, senior inspector of AHTU, said, “We received a tip-off that a pimp identified as Harish Chhari was operating a prostitution racket. As the girls were minors, and did not have access to lodges and hotels, Chhari used to take the girls to the customers, for which he charged the customer Rs 1.5 lakh per day”, and continued that, “Chhari is a resident of Koparkhairane. He revealed the girls’ father was involved in the prostitution racket, as he willingly sent his daughters to him for providing them to customers, which they both carried out for the past four months.” The sisters hailed from Rajasthan and resided with their father in Koparkhairane. An FIR was registered and both the accused were booked under relevant sections of BNS and the Pocso Act for sexual assault and sexual harassment of a child. Chhari was remanded to police custody till Feb 23. The custody of the rescued girls was handed over to the child welfare committee, and they were accommodated at a juvenile shelter home in Ulhasnagar.
