It is no secret that many of the residential hotels in Maghbazar are just fronts for prostitution. The escape last Sunday night of a young girl from one of these hotels, where she was forced into servicing clients, has helped illuminate the inner machination of the underground sex trade. The day after her flight, these correspondents went undercover into the heart of this criminal zone, seeking to verify what is often whispered but seldom seen.

The central market area was crowded and bustling close to midnight. Light bulbs shone brightly in the shop-fronts, illuminating the throngs of men shuffling about the street. Just above them, residential hotels crammed the city sky, advertised in colourful signs.

Finding a pimp proved easy, like walking into a shop. The correspondents approached a man standing in front of Hotel Rupashi Bangla, a dingy-looking five-storey building standing right next to Hotel Capetown, where the teenage girl escaped from the day before.

The police, with members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), National Security Intelligence and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, converged on this street just the night before, arresting the management staff of Hotel Capetown. Nonetheless, the broker was eager to make a deal.

Posing as two friends seeking sexual pleasure, the correspondents asked him if he could supply young girls new to the trade. He had some 20 to 22 such chicks, shot back the broker, smiling proudly, "Take your pick." Spending the whole night at the hotel would cost Tk 2,500, he informed.

Hoping to gather information surreptitiously, The Daily Star reporters insisted on speaking with the girls first about their health and activities, pretending to be concerned about diseases. Monzur, the pimp, eventually gave in, saying, "You can leave undisturbed if you do not like what you hear."

Discretion and cleanliness would not be a problem, he said, adding foreigners frequently visited the hotel. The foreigners working at the Meghna power plant, he said as example, visited once or twice a month. "Fear not, there is no problem," he claimed, explaining that the police, criminals and intelligence officers in the area are regularly paid off to ensure an uninterrupted flow of business. "No one bothers us," he said, flashing a reassuring grin.

Sources say many such hotels, numbering up to 2,000 in the city, pay between Tk 1 and 1.5 lakh each a month in kickbacks, dolling out cash to local musclemen, corrupt police and journalists, who might otherwise expose or hinder their business.

The police often raid the hotels that do not pay up tolls, arresting dozens of pimps and 'massage' girls, but they often obtain bail, since only light charges are brought against them, sources claim.

Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ramna Police Station, however, denied the accusation. "The complaint that our men are involved is common. But there is no truth in it," he professed, adding such accusations are made because the police are cracking down on the trade.

"Why should these people speak in favour of us?" he argued, "We are regularly arresting them. Sometimes they are beaten mercilessly by us. We are their main enemy. If it [bribery] is being practised, why would they speak out against us? There is no validity in what they say."

Broker Monzur asserted otherwise, though. "The Capetown was raided, because it failed to come up with the toll," he said, leading the correspondents to his hotel.

A small boy sat perched on a stool at the entrance. Monzur signalled to him, with a finger to the lips, to keep quiet. Then the correspondents climbed the dimly lit stairs up to Hotel Rupashi Bangla, with a soft darkness barely concealing the grimy walls. On the second floor, a group of men surrounded a concierge desk, where a heavyset man stood counting a wad of cash. Pointing to him, Monzur reassured the correspondents, "The hotel owner is here. Nobody will bother us."

The hotel was little more than a long, dark hallway studded with several doors. A sour staleness was hanging about the place.

Monzur, his thin frame clad in a lungi, beckoned the reporters to one of the small rooms, barren except for two beds covered with white sheets. Bidding the correspondents to sit, he disappeared down the hallway, returning minutes later with a pretty young woman.

She walked through the door. Dressed in a pink salwar-kameez, she looked well bred. Responding to thinly veiled questions, she briefly told her tale. "I'm 22," she said, sitting nervously on the bed. Originally from Jessore, she came to Dhaka three months ago to work as a call girl, hoping to make fast cash. "I only do this once a week," she claimed, adding that she lives in Ramna with her family.

Condoms are not generally used, said the young woman, "We offer condoms, but customers do not like using them. Some people use them though, but most do not."

The correspondents inquired if she ever underwent a test for sexually transmitted diseases, but she said such tests were not available.

Sources say, in addition to these residential hotels, hundreds of residential houses throughout the city are also secretly serving as brothels. Most of the girls in these houses -- located in places like Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi and even some of the city's posh areas -- are held against their will.

OC Rahman later said his department and others are vigilantly prosecuting the criminals involved in the sex trade. "We are very much aware of the situation. We are chasing, we are checking, we are getting hold of these types of criminals. We are regularly arresting them and processing them to the court," he said, adding, "We are trying our best and, of course, we will stop it."

As a testament to these efforts, detectives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on May 26 arrested 107 female sex workers and 56 male customers in a number of residential hotels in the city, according to a police press release.

At Hotel Rupashi Bangla, the mood in the small room grew tense, as Monzur insisted the correspondents to stay. But the young woman's services were eventually declined. Monzur, offering a card bearing the name of Hotel Rupashi Bangla and a telephone number, said he would produce three or four more girls the following day, if wished. As the reporters left, the hotel owner berated the pimp for failing to strike the deal.

Monzur could not be reached later for comment, despite repeated attempts. An unknown person at the hotel said over telephone he had gone on leave.

Outside the hotel, the sidewalk was calm, and pedestrians flowed as usual in the late night, offering no hint to the clandestine business going on right along and above the street.