Bhubaneswar, June 9: City police today detained and later freed two youths who spent a night in the rooms of their two “girlfriends” at SBI Colony, Keshura, on the outskirts of the capital. One of the two youths is an employee of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

According to sources, the youths had sneaked into the colony last evening without signing on the mandatory visitors’ register maintained by the security staff at the entrance.

On being asked for identification, one of them said he was an RPF inspector and produced his identity card, while the other one, a student, claimed to be a CBI official. The gatekeeper allowed them in without any further inquiry.

The source said the two girls are students of MBA. While one of them hailed from Dhenkanal district, her roommate was from Bangalore. “One of the detained youths used to visit the girls regularly. Last evening, he brought the other boy along with him,” the source added.

According to local residents, the two girls have been staying in a rented flat of the colony for nearly a year. The neighbours said they heard an argument going on in the morning and later found out that the police had landed at the flat suspecting a sex racket.

Police said they had received calls from some persons in the colony about some “mischief” going on in a flat. “After we reached the spot, we brought the two youths down to the Shahid Nagar police station for questioning,” said a police officer.

In another development, another person called Rajesh Sahu, who identified himself as the cousin of one of the girls, said the youths, who were their “friends”, had come to attend the birthday celebrations of one of the girls.

“I usually come to meet my sister during the weekends. Last night, when I came to the colony, I found a motorcycle was parked in the garage. Instead of going to my sister’s room, I left the place.

“It was only this morning that the security guards informed me that the two youths had come to take their motorcycles.

“The duo also quarrelled with me. Later, the police came and portrayed the matter as an alleged sex racket. They took these two youths with them,” said Sahu, who works for a city-based finance company. Later, the police let them off the hook for the want of evidence.

Sociologists have attributed the episode to the impact of western culture. Describing the act of the youths as “sex adventurism”, sociologist D.N. Jena said these incidents were common in metropolitan cities, which is being emulated in developing cities such as Bhubaneswar.

“Spending a night together is the symptom of a permissive society. As we are progressing towards a permissive society, these incidents would become frequent in future,” said Jena.