CHENNAI: Wanted by police in six cases of prostitution and denied anticipatory bail by the Madras high court, flesh trade kingpin ‘Poonga’ Venkatesan has given mutliple police teams the slip.After TOI reported on November 13 that some kingpins including Venkatesan had divided the city into zones and colluded with some police officers of the anti-vice squad to run the flesh trade, the ‘silent operator’ approached the court last Thursday seeking anticipatory bail. The central crime branch police opposed the petition and the court turned it down.The latest chase started after the anti-vice squad, on instruction from city police commissioner A K Viswanathan, arrested another kingpin, ‘Tailor’ Ravi, from a house in Anna Nagar in the second week of October. Many others have now gone underground.Anti-vice squad sources said they were worried that Venkatesan may be getting information about their plans to nab him. “He appears to be getting updates on our special team’s movement,” said a source. Suspecting inside informer in AVS, senior officers have put together a team of personnel unattached to any police station or wing, to track down Venkatesan.Police said Venkatesan has been operating a prostitution ring under the garb of some 60 spas and massage parlours in the southern suburbs, mainly OMR. He grew in the business after he established contacts with veterans in the field, including Kannada Prasad and Sonalakshmi, both of who have since retired. “He took the place vacated by these people,” said a policeman about Venkatesan. “Not many know him by his face. He makes his calls through encrypted social media channels.”AVS men, meanwhile, are poring over call records of a few pimps. They have sought the help of the cybercrime wing police to ascertain the location of these men who may lead the team to Venkatesan. “Many of them have switched off their phones,” said the source. “We are waiting for them to show up on our radar.”

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