Cash-strapped Tamil actress held for running sex racket

A model-turned-actress from Tamil Nadu was arrested by the Social Security Cell (SSC) of Pune police along with her stepbrother from a five-star hotel in Yerawada on Saturday for allegedly running a flesh trade racket.

Caroline Ranjit Mariathasan, 22, is the third actress to be arrested in connection with flesh trade in the city over the last four months. Caroline and her stepbrother, Rajkumar Mariathasan, 32, have been remanded in police custody till Monday.

A native of Saeeda Peth in Chennai, Caroline lives in Andheri, Mumbai. She used to visit the city frequently. The police said that Caroline has worked in three Tamil movies which are yet to be released. Besides, she has done advertisements for jewellery and garment shops in Chennai.

Her stepbrother, Rajkumar is a photographer and her stepfather Ranjit owns a studio in Chennai.

The police also said Caroline was forced to join this profession as she was not getting a good break in films and she was short of cash too.

Inspector Bhanupratap Barge, who led the police team that laid a trap for Caroline and Rajkumar, said, “Head constable Ashok Takalkar from the SSC had received a tip off that Caroline’s stepfather Ranjit was running a flesh trade racket . The police set a decoy and placed a call to Ranjit who sent Caroline and Rajkumar to Pune.”

Barge added, “The trio would charge Rs2 lakh for company for two hours. They would ask the willing persons to book two rooms, one for them and the other for the customer.”