Ranchi, June 16: The sex-and-sleaze racket now threatens to expose the merry men and women of Jharkhand.

Having recovered more than a hundred blue films, allegedly produced right here in the state capital, the police now probably hold the clue to scores of victims of the organised “sex-blackmail and extortion” racket conducted by the two absconding brothers, Paritosh alias Bapi and Devashish Pal. It was mistakenly reported yesterday that they had been arrested.

The brothers, wanted for allegedly running the sex and blackmailing syndicate, failed to surrender today though the police claimed they had called up to say they would do so. Nor is there any sign of one of their victims, absconding executive magistrate A.K. Sharan. Till late this evening, none of them had turned up.

The police remained tight-lipped about the identity of the people who figure in the blue films. Officially, the investigating officers said it was not possible to watch each and every CD “immediately”.

Establishing the identity of the people, they conceded privately, was a tricky business unless people came forward themselves to complain about the blackmailing they may have been subjected to.

All that the investigating officers are willing to say at this stage is that many more sex workers seem to be involved in the racket.

They have, however, watched the CD that features the absconding executive magistrate and are puzzled at the magistrate’s hands repeatedly blocking the lens. It could indicate that the magistrate was aware that he was being filmed.

At the same time, at one point in the film the magistrate appears to discover the presence of the camera suddenly and runs out of the frame, which would indicate that the film was being shot without his consent. Sources at the police headquarters also claimed that the magistrate figures in two different CDs with two different women.

Police also remain clueless about the credentials of M/s Ascent Educational Development Association.

Hundreds of bank drafts issued in favour of this firm were also recovered from the houses of the duo. The investigators suspect that the organisation exists on paper as a front to enable the brothers to operate the sex and sleaze racket.

Investigating officers have, however, managed to trace a bank account operated by Devashish with a balance of more than Rs 4 lakh.

Two questions, however, continue to baffle observers. Why were the bank drafts not deposited in the first place? And, more important, will the police now start blackmailing the victims?