In the warp of the honey trap scandal the Indore police formed teams to nab the owner of Sanjha Lokswami newspaper, Jitu alias Jitendra Soni and his son Amit Soni and raided their hotel My home, house, dance bar, and pub. The printing press and their office have also been sealed.
The spark smoldered when Lokswami published the pictures and names of former BJP minister in the Shiv raj Singh Chauhan government, former minister Laxmi Kant Sharma and SK Mishra, the principal secretary and long-time friend of Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a compromised position. It also released parts of their escapades on YouTube.
The action was taken after the principal secretary attempt suicide in the state secretariat fearing his video will be out soon in public. This aroused a tensed environment in the government about how Lokswami got the videos and it can also affect its image as images of many politicians were associated with honey trap gangs.
The report said, “The case could have connections to the very top including the chief minister’s office as a private hacker who was closely working with the Kamal Nath government was deeply associated with the honey trap gang. The hacker has since been relieved from all responsibilities that he was tasked with.”
The state government then set up a special investigating team (SIT) to chase the matter. The team included officers from Police, Administration, Excise, Food Department, Municipal Corporation and Narcotics.
SSP Ruchivardhan Mishra said- 67 girls along with 7 children have been rescued. They were found in the dance bars running in small rooms along with girls.
Summary of the findings
- Pen drives, CD’s and more than 30 registries and documents have been found and all in the name of others instead of Soni. It is suspected that Jitu Soni might have extorted and kept the property papers that belong to others with him
- Documents related to the honey trap were found.
- 30 properties papers seized value worth Rs 150 crores in the market.
- Licensed gun with 36 live and 6 spent cartridges which are not of the licensed gun have been found at from Soni’s home.
- More than 4,000 videos, screenshots of sex chat, photographs, etc have been found.
- The women in custody also revealed many top names but also trials of cash transactions by those who were allegedly being blackmailed by them.
As Amit and family tried to stop the police work when their kanodia road bungalow was raided, the police have registered cases like human trafficking, IT Act, Arms Act, against them for becoming hurdles in the working of police.
Besides this, cops also suspect the agreement between girls and hotels and are investigating the same. It is assumed that girls used to dance and get money in the form of showering currency notes by the people. The bouncers didn’t let anyone go on the stage. Girls themselves used to come down to take the money and please their regular and premium customers. The IMC is also investigating any illegal construction in the hotel. The power company is also investigating the power connection.
Amit has been arrested and the police are in search of Jitu Soni. The rescued girls and young women have been sent to Jeevan-Jyoti Ashram.
The frequent transfer of SIT chief and changing of investigating officer thrice has sparked the controversy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, asked for details of cash transactions to possibly register a case under the prevention of money laundering act.