Bhubaneswar, July 28: To give police the slip, pimps here are taking to innovative ways. Their discreet operations have increased ever since the arrest of Sunil Meher in April.

Four days ago the police busted a sex racket in a parked car at Nayapalli, bringing to light new ways of the trade flourishing in the city.

The police later traced the pimp, a 43-year-old woman identified as Manjulata Rout.

The police said that Rout, who lives in a slum, had been involved in the racket for the past few years and had been arrested twice in the past for running flesh trade. During interrogation, she reportedly admitted to the police that around 20 cars carrying sex workers were plying on city streets.

However, Bhubaneswar residents blame poor night patrolling for the increase in such activities. "The police vans only cover the main roads, giving a scope to the pimps to use the dark bylanes for such activities," said a resident of Khandagiri.

Police officers said that the trend of running sex rackets from beauty parlours and massage centres had become old fashioned due to frequent crackdowns on them.

"At present, the pimps are keeping sex workers in hostels from where they are being sent to various prominent malls. Later, the pimps ask the customers to go the mall and pick up sex workers to avoid any suspicion. From there, a customer takes the call girl either to his own accommodation or to hotels," said a police officer, who is also a member of the quick action team that has been busting sex rackets in the city for past three years.

Deputy commissioner Satyabrata Bhoi said they were keeping an eye on beauty parlours and massage centres. "The pimps are using smartphones and Internet to run the trade. We have formed a team of officers to contacts pimp as a decoy and subsequently bust the racket," said Bhoi.

2 held in kidnap case

Sundargarh police on Thursday arrested two persons from Kantabajhi in Balangir in connection with the abduction of Calcutta-based trader Pratik Patodia, promoter of Kirei-based Ashoka Multi Yarn Limited. However, the mastermind, Anil Bansal, is still absconding. Of the seven accused, the police have so far arrested two.

Sundargarh police chief Nikhil Kanodia said Mukund Nag and Sidharth Kamle, who were arrested, used to work for Bansal and were Kantabanjhi residents.

"They have been arrested as the main accomplice in this case. Bansal is absconding at this moment," said Kanodia.

Bansal had been to Calcutta two days before the abduction and kept track on Patodia's movement, he said. "Badbahal was the ideal place for them to kidnap Patodia as the area is a little desolate."

Patodia and his driver Rohit was initially taken to Amarkantak in Chattisgarh. He was kept in a guesthouse till July 23. Next morning, he was brought to Kantabanjhi, where Bansal stays.

Bansal, who was with Patodia all along, left Chhattisgarh and went underground as the police pressure mounted.

On Tuesday, Rohit managed to escape from their clutches during one such shifting and reached Jharsuguda, where a police team picked him up.

The genesis of the case lies in business rivalry, said Kanodia. "It is Patodia, who owes Bansal Rs 4 crore over a deal of cotton," said Kanodia. Last year, Patodia had purchased cotton from Bansal through a middleman. However, it is alleged that he failed to repay.

Addtional reporting by Rajesh Mohanty in Rourkela