Pornography:

Fast growing illegal business in the Pettah

Pettah which is located between Colombo Central and the Colombo North had been a commercial hub from the time of Dutch occupation on the country. Produce such as cinnamon, pepper and cardamoms were brought into Pettah to be stored before it was shipped across to cities in Europe in the bygone era.

The Dutch even built an extensive network of canals leading to Fort to facilitate the transport of produce. That was the picture several centuries ago. Even today, Pettah is known as a commercial hub because of its diverse trade and being adjacent to Port of Colombo.

However, unlike in the past, the commercial hub has become a den of vice with all types of rackets taking place. There are drug lords, prostitution syndicates, bootleggers and those who dabble in the pornography trade to name a few.

For some time police headquarters had been inundated with information regarding a pornography racket that existed in the Pettah area. Police say the pornography trade has flourished over the years despite raids being conducted to bring its offenders to book. However, it has been a futile effort to eradicate pornography menace completely. Police say pornography is a flourishing trade due to its demand like drugs and alcohol.

Investigate

It was IGP Mahinda Balasuriya who ordered a crack down on pornography proliferating in the western province. DIG Staff Mahesh Samaradivakara and Director Walana Vice Squad SP, Palitha Fernando were instructed to investigate the Pornography racket.

They in turn detailed OIC Walana Vice Squad Inspector Duminda Balasuriya to check the veracity of the information reaching police headquarters. Several police undercover agents from the Panadura Walana Vice Squad were detailed for the job.

Confiscated magazines and tabloids

They were instructed to proceed to Pettah last week posing off as students and gather information regarding the pornography trade in the Pettah area.

Several policemen went to Pettah last week on a spying mission to gather information regarding pornography. To their astonishment they discovered an organised pornography racket orchestrated by news-stand agents.

They soon learnt that news stand agents were instrumental in hawking pornography material surreptitiously along with newspapers and tabloids. The undercover agents discovered obscene magazines, tabloids and video discs with lewd photographs of naked women and men. They also noticed that customers who call over at news-stands were mostly students and young service personnel on leave.

They also learnt that several ghost writers who contributed articles to these magazines operated secretly behind the scenes.

The magazines were printed elsewhere and brought to the Pettah to be stock piled at warehouses in the Pettah. Meanwhile, police also came to know the location where pornography magazines and tabloids were published.

Despatched

Following the information OIC Balasuriya despatched a team of young police officers from the Panadura Walana Vice Squad to proceed to Pettah on May 19 to purchase pornography material posing off as students. The undercover agents were clad in civilian clothing to mask their identity. After reaching a news stand at Olcott Mawatha, Pettah, the policemen mingled with the crowds at news-stands as if they were genuinely interested in tabloids.

Meanwhile, the undercover agents saw students and young servicemen purchasing the lewd magazines, tabloids and compact discs from a news-stand vendor at Olcott Mawatha. The undercover policemen also initiated a conversation with the vendor and indicated their willingness to purchase lewd magazines and tabloids from him. The unsuspecting vendor without any hesitation provided them with a compact disc that contained images of a foreign couple engaged in sexual posture. The vendor also provided them with magazines containing naked pictures of local and foreign men and women. Thereafter the undercover policemen handed some cash to the vendor and purchased a tabloid containing lewd pictures of men and women and several vulgar stories.

No sooner had they purchased the obscene tabloids, a signal was sent to Sub Inspector Mahendra Perera who lay in ambush close by. He then rushed to the news stand with a police party and began questioning the news stand agent regarding the pornography material. The agent vehemently denied having sold any pornography material and the police party then began searching the news stand. Meanwhile, police found 1,368 obscene tabloids two magazines containing naked pictures of both men and women and four compact discs with lewd pictures.

On questioning the news stand agent they learnt that a compact disc was sold at Rs 100, a magazine with naked pictures for Rs 200, and an obscene tabloid for Rs 50. The pornography tabloids and magazines with titles such as Sathuta, Seedevi, Priyani, Sandamina, Madhavi were to be sold at the news stand that day. Meanwhile investigations have revealed that the tabloids with pseudonyms have been published without being registered. Police say the tabloids containing vulgar stories are a figment of the imagination of pseudonym writers, to rouse the passion of young students.

The naked photographs of young local men and women have been obtained fraudulent and by deceitful means by the publishers, police said.

A further investigation has been launched to question men and women whose photographs have been found in the obscene magazines.

The pornography tabloids and magazines are despatched to out-stations along with the daily papers. The suspect arrested by the police was produced before the Maligakanda Magistrate Courts and was enlarged on bail, police said.