During the investigation, police found that a woman had booked the auto-rickshaw through an online app. They collected her details from the driver and conducted a raid at a house under the Laxmisagar police station earlier in the day.

“We could establish that the accused, who booked the auto-rickshaw and sent the minor girl to Capital Hospital, was running a sex racket in the house along with two others,” Singh said. Police arrested the house owner, Sanjib Kumar Das (54), and two pimps - Manju Sethi (47) and Mamata Sahu (42).

Later, Abinash Muduli, a 28-year-old from Nayagarh, was arrested for raping the minor victim. Subsequently, two separate cases under section 65(1) of BNS and section 6 of the POCSO Act were registered. Laxmisagar police registered a case against the house owner and two women pimps for running the sex racket (human trafficking), while Capital police registered the case against the youth for sexually assaulting the victim.

Police said the minor survivor was unable to clearly share her details but managed to reveal that she is a native of Jharkhand. “We are in touch with Jharkhand police to ascertain her identity,” he added. During the raid, police also rescued three other women who were engaged in prostitution.