Lucknow, Dec. 12: The arrest of 13 women, including 11 call girls, in Kanpur two weeks ago has exposed a sex racket that threatens to implicate the powerful in Uttar Pradesh.

Though no one has been officially named, over a dozen bureaucrats and top politicians of the state, including some ministers, have figured during investigations so far, sources said.

Kanpur superintendent of police Ratan Shrivastava confirmed that the sex racket had been running for a few years with the connivance of some local policemen.

“This time, we have not only arrested the call girls but also two city socialites who were the brains behind the racket,” he said.

Madhu Agarwal and Usha Trivedi are said to have lured many young, vulnerable women into prostitution with the promise of employment or lucrative allurements.

“Madhu and Usha supplied call girls to customers through contact over cellphones they (the duo) provided. The rates ranged between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 for a day. Once they got trapped in the flesh trade, there was no escape route,” Shrivastava said.

Sushmita Misra, said to be a key accomplice of the duo, is on the run. Sources said a senior IAS officer had given Sushmita shelter at his home in Noida.

“This IAS officer is not the only VIP named by the arrested women,” a police official said. “Wedding photographs of Usha’s son show her posing with top politicians and bureaucrats.”

Women’s rights activist Neelam Chaturvedi accused the police of trying to hush up the case because some ruling party members were “involved”. She urged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to hand the investigation to the CBI.

“These powerful politicians and bureaucrats need to be exposed. Many skeletons will automatically fall out of the cupboard,” she said.

State agriculture minister Shiv Pal Singh denied the involvement of any Samajwadi Party activist. “We have ordered the official (concerned) to conduct a thorough and impartial probe.”

A local official, however, said the police were under pressure. “The racket had the patronage of the local police. It was busted because police fell out with Usha and Madhu over protection money,” he alleged.

All the arrested women have been chargesheeted under the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act. Seven customers, who were caught red handed from various flats during raids across the city, were also sent to jail.

The special operations gro-up of the state police recove- red, among other things, blue films, pornographic material, condoms and 100-odd packets of Viagra.