New Delhi: Six children were rescued and 73 people arrested from a ‘brothel’ allegedly run by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Meghalaya vice-president Bernard N. Marak in Tura on Saturday, July 23, a senior police officer said.Rimpu Bagan, a farmhouse owned by militant-turned-politician Marak, was raided on the basis of a tip-off, West Garo Hills superintendent of police (SP) Vivekanand Singh told news agency PTI.“We have rescued six minors – four boys and two girls – who were found locked inside dingy cabin-like unhygienic rooms at Rimpu Bagan, run by Bernard N. Marak and his accomplices as a brothel, for the purpose of prostitution,” Singh said.All the children were handed over to District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) for safe custody and further necessary action as per law, he said.In the raid, 27 vehicles, eight two-wheelers, about 400 bottles of liquor, over 500 unused condoms, and crossbows and arrows were seized, he said.Seventy-three people were arrested for their indulgence in “nefarious activities” as evident from the material seized, the officer said, adding that the farmhouse has 30 small rooms.Meghalaya Police busted a huge sex racket & arrested 73 persons in West Garo Hills dist & seized 36 vehicles, 414 liquor bottles, 49 mobile phones, sharp weapons & other items during the raid conducted at Rimpu Bagan area in the dist: Vivekanand Singh Rathore, SP, West Garo Hills pic.twitter.com/UVGr1nmcmr— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2022Meghalaya director-general of police (DGP) L.R. Bishnoi said that the raid was a continuation of a case filed in February where a minor girl was sexually assaulted, allegedly at Rimpu Bagan. The case was filed under the POCSO Act.Also read: Mumbai Top Cop Revises POCSO-FIR Circular; Asks Police to File Case if ‘No Foul Play Suspected’Further, Bishnoi noted that many of the people arrested from Rimpu Bagan on Saturday were found in “compromising positions”, according to a report by the Hindu.The survivor had told the court that she and her friend were taken to Rimpu Bagan by the accused. The accused persons hired a room there and sexually assaulted her multiple times, Singh said.“It was ascertained that the minor was sexually assaulted multiple times over one week, and a case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 366A (procuration of minor girl), 376 (punishment for rape) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act,” SP Singh said.Multiple verbal complaints were also received from residents of Tura town, alleging that immoral activities were going on at Rimpu Bagan, following which the operation was planned, the officer said.During the raid, police found many young men and women without clothes and drinking. All 68 of them were arrested, he said.The manager, caretaker and three staffers of the property were also arrested, he said.A case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956.Police said they have asked Marak to cooperate with the investigation and surrender at the Shillong Sadar police station immediately, but he was evading arrest.Marak, however, argued that he was not evading arrest and denied any wrongdoing on his part.He further said that none of those arrested were involved in any “indecent activities” and that the police “harassed” the minors found at Rimpu Bagan, who Marak claimed he was “sponsoring to study,” according to a report by NDTV.Marak, an elected member of the Garo Tribal Autonomous District Council, in a statement, attacked Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma for the raid at the farmhouse, denying any allegation about running a “brothel”.“The chief minister is getting desperate as he knows he is losing his South Tura seat to the BJP. The raid at my farmhouse is a desperate attempt by him to malign my image and a political vendetta,” he claimed.NDTV, further, reported that Marak said that mature people “partying” cannot be said to have been engaged in prostitution and accused Sangma of “making things personal” by allowing police frame human trafficking and prostitution charges against his own voters.The BJP is a part of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), led by Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP).There are more than 25 criminal cases against Marak, the then self-styled chairman of now disbanded militant outfit Achik National Voluntary Council (B), since the early 2000s, the SP said.(With PTI inputs)