HYDERABAD COPS PULL DOWN CURTAINS ON SOUTH INDIAN DANCERS

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, July 2 (Bernama) -- An Indian national guitarist, who once
performed in hotels in Malaysia, was arrested by Hyderabad police Thursday in
connection with operating an international flesh trade.

A special task force from Hyderabad police apprehended two suspects who had
been illegally trafficking women to several West Asian countries under the guise
of organising singing and dancing events in Dubai hotels.

The guitarist, 42-year-old Gopnathan Bala Marthanda from Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, and his partner in crime, Kotla Somasekhar Reddy, 29, from Hyderabad, were
nabbed in Andhra Pradesh's capital -- where they had set up their base.

"The guitarist is from Chennai and had performed in hotels in Malaysia and
Singapore.

"He had been recruiting women from India only. Since he had committed his
crime in India, we will not be contacting Interpol," V. B. Kamalasan Reddy,
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Commissioner's Task Force), of Hyderabad City
told Bernama.



According to evidence gathered by investigators, Gopnathan had opened his
own nightclub -- named "Chennai Club" -- in a leading hotel in Dubai about a
year ago, where singers and dancers from South India were recruited to perform.

But, his business collapsed during the recent economic crisis and he
switched to luring young females, from Chennai and Hyderabad, who were taken to
Dubai under false arrangements to work in the entertainment industry.

"Once he takes the women to Dubai, they will be confined in rooms and will
not be allowed to go out except to perform shows. These artistes have to collect
a minimum of 250,000 in Indian currency (RM18,500).

"If any dancer or singer fails to reach the target, they will be compelled
to do prostitution under threat," added Reddy.

According to police, the gang had sent about 150 women to the Gulf -- 100
females from Andhra Pradesh and 50 from Mumbai and Tamil Nadu.

Gopnathan had paid Kotla, a bartender in Hyderabad, about RM500 as
commission for every girl he recruited to work in the Gulf.

-- BERNAMA



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