Indiranagar

Bengaluru

Dubai

station inspector

Proprietor and employees of busy pub on 80-ft-road booked for human trafficking; police raid premises which allegedly doubled as dance bar on weekends; 32 women rescuedThe city police have invoked human trafficking charges against the proprietor and employees of Mango Tree (330 bar), which reportedly doubled up as a dance bar during weekends. Located on the busy 80 Feet Road in, the weekend party hub of the city, the building also houses a Lebanese food joint. The police claim that they are yet to ascertain whether the establishment was also a pick-up joint with an organised prostitution racket where the patrons were allowed to pick and choose the women who were reportedly forced to perform on the top floor.As many as 32 women were rescued and six employees present on the premises were arrested after a surprise raid on Saturday night. Mild tension prevailed on the premises on Wednesday afternoon when some of the employees of the firm illegally entered the sealed premises However, the police are yet to arrest the owner of the establishment citing that there were some ‘ambiguity’ over the individual in whose name the bar had obtained operational license. Unconfirmed reports also indicate that the son of an MLA who was recently involved in a bar brawl had tried to exert pressure on the local police to prevent the raid after the city police received a complaint against the illegal activity last week.“As of now we have sent the women to a government shelter. It was being operated as a dance bar on Friday and Saturday every week. Further investigation is being conducted to confirm whether it was also a pick-up joint,” said Ajay Hilori, deputy commissioner ( East),city police.As per the FIR registered at Jeevan Bima Nagar police station, a decoy customer was sent into the first floor of the building and the remaining team stormed inside at around 10 :30 pm on Saturday after it was confirmed that a batch of women were brought into the building. They were allegedly asked to change into skimpy clothes and forced to dance inside the lounge to ‘provoke customers to buy more alcohol’. However, the FIR does not mention anyone by name and has listed the owner of Mango Tree (330 Bar) and its manager among the accused in the case.“The building was rented out to a food entrepreneur with business interest inin 2008. But he reportedly had stopped paying rent to the owner and a civil case is already registered against him,” said sources.A senior police official told BM that the girls were given contracts for their exotic dance performance held on Friday and Saturday nights on the floor above the Lebanese food lounge.“The ground floor was being used as a regular bar and eatery but entry to the upper floor was restricted during the weekends. It seems the girls were being brought with the help of some men from outside the state,” said sources involved in the raid.A constable was deployed at the building since it was sealed off after the Saturday raid. However, some of the employees managed to enter the building on Wednesday afternoon in an alleged bid to reopen the establishment. Two teams of police, one under HalasuruSubramaniya and another from Jeevan Bhima Nagar under the co-ordination of Assistant Commissioner of Police (Halasuru) sub division Shantha Mallappa, rushed to the spot The police initially rounded them and put them in the jeep but they were later allowed to leave. The men claimed that they were there to do some ‘repair’ work. The case has been registered under section 370 (A) and 294 of the IPC for trafficking people for exploitation and for obscenity.