Title - Senior WR officials knew about ‘prostitution racket’

MUMBAI: Senior officials were aware of the alleged prostitution racket that the Western Railway area manager (safety) was running from the railway premises at Marine Lines. Police sources said that the railway officials knew about Babulal Narayandas Verma's (55) activities.Verma, who was booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and remanded to police custody till March 16, told the police that he supplied girls to senior officials and friends. The case has been handed over to the Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station for further investigations. Police officials said that they will call all people whose numbers were in Verma's list from Monday. The police believe that Verma, in-charge of the safety of local and outgoing trains, used to act as a pimp and would give girls half the amount. "He told us he was doing this for two years after he got his daughter married. His wife is in UP," an officer said. Verma had been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a recruitment scam in Surat but the police are clueless about the case's status.

Acting on a tip-off, the Mumbai police social service branch raided Verma's official quarters at Marine Lines and arrested him along with four victims late on Saturday.

The police said Shahbuddin Choudhary had tipped them off about the class I employee running the racket.

Assistant commissioner of police Feroz Patel decided to send Choudhary as a bogus customer. Verma allegedly paraded four girls, including a minor, and told him to select one, for which he was to pay Rs 2,500. The police raided the place soon after that. They also seized Rs 1.09 lakh and condom packets from Verma's residence. Senior Western Railway officials have been informed about the case.

The rescued girls were produced before the metropolitan magistrate, which permitted them to go home on the condition that their parents filed personal bonds.