Flesh Trade on The Rise In Assam

Flesh Trade In Lahorijan

A giant well thought-out racket of flesh trade is flourishing in the Lahorijan area in the inter-state border of Assam and Nagaland within Karbi Anglong district for the past couple of years.

Allegedly nearly 7 small market motels in the area are involved in the flesh trade. The racket is carrying the immoral trafficking just hoodwinking the authorities under cover of hotels and restaurants. It is alleged that these motels are selling liquor, flouting all rules and regulation of excise department while a majority of the joints do not have any kind of liquor license.

According to the accusation of the local residents of Lahorijan Sun City restaurant, the Kamaljit Singh is covered by bar license but so called restaurants like Blue Diamond owned by Pradip Roy, Rim Jhim by Sanjay Jaiswal, Punam by Rur Singh, Apna Punjab by Satnam Singh, Rajhanish by Ram Kumar and many such joints in reality have made the place a centre of prostitution.

Police Ignore Illicit Activities

The local administration of Bokajan and Khatkati so far have failed to force any action against this organized gang. Inspector Shyamanta Sarmah, incumbent Officer in Charge of Khatkhati Police has turned a blind eye towards this misdemeanor. So has the local administration, confirming the claim that the crimes taking place in Khatkati are allied with the higher ups in society.

After publication of media reports numerous time in newspapers and in local TV channels all illegal, illicit and immoral acts continue without the slightest hindrance.

Prostitution is on the rise in this area because, the check gates that dot the inter-state borders, slow the movements of the trucks; enticing drivers to move their trucks into the temptations of parking lots for spicy food and a night’s rest with low-priced wine.

Besides the truckers, young men serving in the armed forces and many local youths are the regular patrons in these brothels. The streets contain packs of perverted girls in eye-catching outfits from Nagaland for their night venture in the parking lots. These girls also rent cheap rooms in Dudu colony, a notorious area positioned in the inter-state cross border cramped in with thousands of doubtful Bangladeshi immigrants.

Epicentre Of Prostitution

Local sources while speaking about the dynamics of the trade said the sex workers based in Dimapur city throng the place with the help of the racketeers who earn handsomely acting as facilitators. The spot in recent times has turned into the epicentre of prostitution flanked by Dimapur city of Nagaland and Bokajan subdivision of Assam.

The hotel attendants generally act as pimps for the whores. They hold the mobile numbers of the girls and employ them in accordance to the customer’s budget.

Sources also alleged that the owners of these motels charge diverse rates starting from a mere Rs. 300/-. Despite the consequences, the sex workers get only half of what they earn. The intolerable fact of the whole unholy nexus is that, the local police and the excise department also hold a share of the illicit businesses in the area, according to the careworn local people.

The other alarming side of the whole business is the rising number of freshly HIV infected people in the area. According to a health department source, there are about 150 confirmed cases of HIV positive roaming within the vicinity of Lahorijan.

“Truck drivers coming from different directions in the nation ferry fatal HIV virus for the people of both the state, and girls indulging in sex business gets infected without knowing and spread the virus in no time for their careless lifestyle,” Wati Ao a social worker based in Dimapur told this correspondent.

Militant Safe Haven

Beside prostitution and drug peddling, the place is a safe haven for ethnic militants and those operating from Bangladesh, who generally take refuge inside Dudu Colony under cover of assorted trade and business. Records of both Bokajan and Khatkati police station are nothing but a long saga of crimes of every kind and nature. Some say the police station of tiny Khatkati township will beat all records for offenses in the whole state.

Despite making media headlines periodically, nothing seems to have changed really. It is now common knowledge that there are lapses in the policing structure, but, the story needs to be told again and again expecting that continued media attention might someday bring the Khatkhati police into action.

Sushanta Roy is a journalist in Assam, India, who photographs and writes about the people, animals and flora of Assam, and the things that affect them.