Police arrest 41 including one of their own with links to online sex-trafficking ring
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka police have so far arrested 41 suspects, including a police officer and bank manager, in connection with an online sex-trafficking ring that had used a 15-year-old girl as a commercial sex property.
The Police Media Division said the 41st suspect, who is a resident in Negombo, was arrested on Monday (12), while the police officer and the bank manager were taken into custody on Sunday (11).
The arrests so far include the girl’s mother, the deputy chairman of the Mihintale Pradeshiya Sabha, drivers, a designer who had worked on the ads promoting the victim online, a Buddhist monk, former Maldivan state minister, a captain, and several crew members of a ship, two gem merchants and a cardiologist attached to Sri Lanka Navy.
The cardiologist, the deputy chairman of the Mihintale Pradeshiya Sabha, the two gem merchants and the mother of the victim were granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court after they were produced in court.
Investigations were first launched by the Mount Lavinia police, beginning with the arrest of the first suspect, on June 7 – a man who had posted several advertisements online and sold the girl to third parties over a period of three months for prices ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000.
Further investigations are being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Children and Women’s Bureau.
Meanwhile, opposition MP Rohini Wijeratne said on Monday that unverified social media reports had suggested there was pressure from the top to suspend investigations into the sex trafficking ring because of the involvement of a well-known Buddhist monk, who said to have close links to the establishment.
However, the monk in question lodged a complaint with the CID on Monday about a website operated from abroad that had made false allegations that he was the Buddhist monk arrested in connection with the incident.
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