In a growing pattern, a significant number of arrests under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) are failing to result in convictions, with only 2% of cases reaching their logical conclusion. According to legal experts, these staged arrests are often conducted by the police to inflate their case numbers, rather than to genuinely crack down on trafficking operations.

Advocate Prabhanjay Dave, who has handled over 5,000 PITA cases in his 30-year career, highlighted the troubling trend. “In most cases, the police stage the raids but fail to gather technical evidence, which is required by law. In many instances, the complainant is a recurring individual. I’ve cross-examined a complainant named Mukesh Lagada multiple times, whose name appears in several cases. Despite frequent raids, the police consistently fail to prove their case, resulting in the accused being acquitted.”

The issue, as described by Advocate Dave, seems to lie in the police’s intention behind the raids. “These raids are conducted to allegedly boost numbers for their internal reports. They do jot look like a systematic effort to tackle the problem but are rather sporadic, just to maintain statistics,” Dave added.

Advocate Kaushik Mhatre echoed these sentiments, also pointing to Mukesh Lagada as a notorious figure in these cases. “Many individuals have complained about Lagada’s involvement in staging arrests, entrapping innocent people,” he said.

Advocate Visshal Khetre further  highlighted a recurring theme in these cases: the so-called “victims” of trafficking often turn out to be the children of those involved in the flesh trade. “In such cases, the alleged victim usually has valid documentation, such as an Aadhar card, proving they are not minors. Since they are related to the accused, they often refuse to testify or appear in court, leading to acquittals,” Khetre explained.

This pattern of flimsy evidence and unreliable witnesses has led to a system where traffickers and accused individuals frequently walk free, leaving true victims without justice. Social worker Shivangi Dhaka(name changed on request), who works with women in jails, confirmed that many women claim to have been trapped in these staged raids. “There are numerous complaints against Lagada. Women have told me that they were called under the guise of catering services and then arrested. Even some flesh traders have claimed that Lagada lured them before staging their arrest.”

Advocate Dave concluded that these staged arrests, conducted merely to increase the police’s tally of raids, are doing more harm than good. “In this system, the actual victims of trafficking are being denied justice, while the police focus solely on boosting their arrest numbers,” he said.

With growing concern over the misuse of PITA provisions, advocates are calling for reforms that ensure raids are carried out with genuine intent and backed by solid evidence, so that victims of trafficking receive the justice they deserve.