Call girls 'fly' on BIA road

 These women are doing greater service to society then the so called decent, loving 498a wives, so send innocent men to Jail on false accusations.

April 20, 2009

It has become the favourite haunt of the city’s call girls. The stretch of the BIA road between the CBI flyover junction and the Hebbal flyover hosts several government establishments and gets deserted after office hours, making it the ideal spot for a pick-up.

The city got itself a swanky new airport 11 months ago and correspondingly first-rate connectivity to the Devanahalli terminal. But, as was perhaps to be expected, the oldest profession hasn’t been slow to sign up, if you like, as part of the ‘package’.

The blatant soliciting going on under the very nose of the law on a stretch of the highway leading to Bangalore International Airport (BIA) has to be seen to be believed. Call-girls, who once dotted the M G Road-Cubbon Road area in the central part of the city, have shifted base to the BIA road — which has given an impetus to realty and commerce in the northern part of the city. Ironically, their new favourite hang-out is a stretch between the CBI flyover junction and the Hebbal flyover, that hosts a large number of government buildings and is aptly called the ‘government corridor’.

The stretch looks normal enough during the day, but the easy-to-imagine transformation happens after dusk when hundreds of government employees leave their offices for the day. “By 7:30 pm, the profile of the area changes. Women with a lot of make-up walk up and down the isolated stretch trying to solicit motorists heading towards Yelahanka and the airport. Of late, the number of such women is on the rise and many of the local residents are non-plussed about what they are doing here,” said a Sahakar Nagar resident.

COPS IN CAHOOTSActing on the tip-off, Bangalore Mirror decided to investigate and what we found was unsurprising. The cops in the area were aware of the street-sex trade but chose to turn a Nelson’s eye to the goings-on. Cabs kept coming in, halting and moving on after deals were struck. We were witness to cops pocketing money from call-girls and pimps.

The Hebbal police station is just half a kilometre away, but some of the call-girls brazenly said the police were in their pocket and would not touch them or their customers.

Krishna, a pimp who brings three to four girls in his van to the spot everyday, said, “We have an understanding with some cab drivers; they get people who are looking for sexual favours to this place. Once the price is finalised, the girl goes with the client in the taxi.”

Krishna’ logic for why the ‘business’ had shifted to the BIA road was impeccable. “If we were to operate in a residential area, the risk would be high as neighbours might complain. But here the government offices close in the evening and the crowd that passes through this road is largely rich,” he said. At that, a call-girl butted in with, “We make more money here than standing in front of Mayo Hall on M G Road.”

A police officer whom we spoke had his own take on the new trend. “With Metro construction work happening on M G Road, not many people go there. Instead, youngsters now hit the BIA road either to race their vehicles or to visit dhabas and coffee joints on the outskirts. This multi-laned road with its service roads has become a happening place at night.” On the passivity of the cops, he passed the buck down the line, saying, “It is the duty of the local police.” And the constables we talked to had found an apparently easy way out of their obligations. “Most of the call-girls are eunuchs; it is difficult to chase them away,” they said.

TRAFFIC ‘HIT’Meanwhile, the ‘attraction’ is already beginning to have its effects on the traffic flow along the stretch. “Everyday I see vehicles slow down near the CBI flyover. The drivers are either distracted seeing the call-girls or they halt haphazardly to pick up those they like. This creates a logjam on the high-speed road and that is irritating,” said marketing professional and Amruthalli resident K Satish.

The presence of the call-girls has also turned out to be a nuisance for those government employees who work late hours. Some of the important government buildings in the corridor are IVRI, Veterinary College, the Hebbal campus of UAS, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Biologicals, Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation and the International Flower Auction Centre. The stretch is also the chosen location for the government’s proposed residential quarters for ministers.

Putting on a sociologist’s hat, a senior BBMP official remarked, “It is definitely an issue pertaining to the livelihood of the call-girls. But the bureaucrat in him wasn’t far behind when he added, “It is sad, though, that they are using a road which we are trying to showcase to the global crowd as a symbol of Bangalore’s infrastructure. Hope this road does not become end up becoming more famous as a call-girl’s pick-up spot.”

How they talk ‘business’Around 8.30 pm last Saturday, the BM team walked up to some call-girls in the ‘corridor’ posing as customers. A replay of what transpired:

Call-girl: Are you Hindi?
BM: Yes
Call-girl: What do you want? Talk to her (girl named Priya who is standing nearby) as she understands Hindi.
BM: We don’t want anything.
Priya: Okay, you can tell me, what do you want?
BM: Nothing...
Priya: Whatever you want you can get.
BM: We do not understand
Priya: How many of you are there and how many girls do you want?
BM: We are two of us.
Priya: Then, Rs 1,000 per head. That comes to Rs 2,000.
BM: It is too much.
Priya: Then how much you can pay?
BM: Rs 1000?
Priya: No, take a walk
BM: Okay, Rs 1,500
Priya: Hmm, okay. But, where to go? Do you have a place?
BM: We will get a car. All of us will spend the whole night.
Priya: Why? Don’t you have a place to go?
BM: We are students. We stay in a hostel.
Priya: No problem. You can come to my place at Kempapura.
BM: Are you going to charge anything extra for that?
Priya: No, no.
BM: And what about the police?
Priya: Don’t worry. They won’t touch us. I know each of them and I pay them regularly.
BM: We will go to an ATM and get back to you.
Priya: Okay, come soon. I can’t wait for you for a long time.
(That must have been one miffed call-girl; needless to say, we didn’t return)