MUMBAI, Feb. 24 -- The father of two minor girls has been named a key accused in a prostitution racket busted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Navi Mumbai police. According to the police, the case came to light on February 20, after senior police inspector Prithviraj Ghorpade of the AHTU was told that a 25-year-old man was supplying minor girls to customers in Navi Mumbai and charging them Rs.1.5 lakh each. "Since the girls were minors the accused used to drop them at locations specified by clients," the officer said. A senior officer said, "During the course of investigation, it emerged that the father himself facilitated the exploitation of the two minor girls despite being fully aware of their age." The AHTU deployed a decoy customer and laid a trap and the accused, a resident of Koparkhairane, was arrested during the operation and the two girls aged 16 and 14 were rescued. The girls then told the police that their own father had pushed them into prostitution. "The father is currently absconding and teams have been formed to trace him," the police officer added. htc...