Two more arrested in online prostitution racket case

Thiruvananthapuram: Two more persons, including a key accused, in the case relating to online prostitution racket involving minor girls, were arrested Monday, taking the total arrests so far to 14.

Joshi Joseph, suspected to be a kingpin in the racket, and a helper Anup were taken into custody from Kochi and brought here. Their arrests have been recorded by police and they would be produced before a magistrate tomorrow, police said.

The two are being interrogated.

Meanwhile, a sessions court here today handed over 'Kiss of love' activist Rahul Pasupalan, his wife Reshmi and four others to six days police custody.

As he was being brought out of the court, Rahul told media personnel that he was allegedly framed in the case, but had faith in the judiciary.

Police had on November 18 arrested six persons, including Rahul and his wife, who had spearheaded the 'Kiss Protests' in the state a year ago against moral policing, in the online racket case and seven others for uploading photos of minor girls and posting obscene comments. They were also remanded to police custody.

Police submitted in court that the accused were suspected to be involved in human trafficking racket and their Mumbai connection was being investigated.