An unfolding situation in Tamil Nadu has led the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to discover that a woman who facilitated the release of criminal ‘Karukka’ Vinoth on bail for his involvement in a petrol bomb attack at the Raj Bhavan, is implicated in a sex trafficking operation involving underage girls.

Karukka Vinoth, a 42-year-old city resident, hurled two petrol bombs at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor’s House in Guindy, Chennai, on October 2023. His actions were reportedly a protest against the “NEET Exams”. Prior to this incident, he had also targeted the Tamil Nadu BJP office in T Nagar with a petrol bomb. Following his arrest, he was incarcerated in Puzhal Jail. Upon his release on bail, he associated himself with the prohibited ‘Popular Front of India’ (PFI).

'நீட் தேர்வை ரத்து செய்ய வேண்டும்; 10 வருடத்திற்கு மேலாக சிறையில் உள்ளவர்களை விடுதலை செய்ய வேண்டும்'

– சைதாப்பேட்டை நீதிமன்றத்தில் ஆஜர்படுத்துவதற்காக அழைத்து வரப்பட்ட கருக்கா வினோத் முழக்கம்#Guindy | #RajBhavan | #KarukkaVinoth | #NEET pic.twitter.com/RzMLLxjYuV

— PuthiyathalaimuraiTV (@PTTVOnlineNews) October 30, 2023

In light of these events, the NIA initiated an investigation into potential terror angle in the Raj Bhavan attack, leading them to question who had secured Vinoth’s bail. This inquiry led to raids on the residences of Vinoth and his associates, including the home of a 37-year-old woman named Nadia, located on Thomas Road, T Nagar, Chennai. It was apparently Nadia who bailed out Karukka Vinoth after spending several lakhs.

Important documents were confiscated during the searches at her house. A subsequent examination of Nadia’s mobile phone revealed explicit images of young girls, prompting the authorities to alert the Anti-Prostitution Division of the Chennai Central Crime Branch.

The police then began surveillance of Nadia’s activities, uncovering her involvement in a sex trafficking operation targeting schoolgirls, conducted from a location on 2nd Street, Valasaravasakkam, Jai Nagar, Chennai.

Nadia, along with six accomplices, was arrested by the Chennai police’s anti-vice squad on charges of coercing schoolgirls, all classmates of her daughter from middle and lower-middle-class families, into prostitution. Two teenage girls, aged 17 and 18, were rescued from the operation by the police following a tip-off about the racket. According to a report 170 obscene videos were found.

According to the police, Nadia targeted her daughter’s schoolmates, befriending them under the guise of offering dance classes and beautician courses as a means of part-time income. Over time, she selected her victims and enticed them with cash amounts ranging from 25,000 to 35,000. The girls were coached to fabricate stories to their families when they needed to stay overnight or travel to other cities with clients. Some of these clients, it was revealed, had taken the girls to Hyderabad and Delhi.

Nadia threatened the girls who resisted her operation with the release of explicit videos to their parents. She selected her clients through social media, personally contacting them to arrange transactions. Some of these clients, older men from Hyderabad and Coimbatore, expressed a preference for schoolgirls and were willing to pay a premium.

Alongside Nadia, the police apprehended several other individuals involved in the operation — Ramachandra, 42, Sumathi, 43, Maya Oli, 29, Jayashree, 43, and Ramandran, 70, all from various parts of Chennai, and Ashok Kumar, 31, from Coimbatore. Seven mobile phones and a car were seized from the accused.

The accused were presented before a magistrate and subsequently placed in judicial custody. The victims are currently receiving counselling from officials of the District Child Protection Unit, Child Line, and Child Welfare Committee.

(With inputs from Dinamalar & TOI)

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