Drug addiction, luring young girls and sextortion: How the sordid rape case in Varanasi exposed a sinister gang operated from Continental Cafe
The investigation into the gruesome Varanasi gangrape case involving a 19-year-old victim and 23 accused that sent shockwaves across the country has uncovered a vicious drug nexus and organised racket that exploited women sexually and blackmailed them. So far, the police have arrested 12 out of the 23 accused named in the FIR for drugging and brutalising the victim in different locations for 6 days.
PM Modi instructs authorities to take the strictest action against the accused
On his arrival in Varanasi today (11th April), Prime Minister Modi instructed the police to take the strictest possible action against the culprits in the case. As soon as PM Modi landed in Varanasi, he was briefed by the police commissioner, divisional commissioner and district magistrate on the investigation in the case.
The cafe owner, his gang and their modus operandi
One of the accused named Anmol Gupta, is said to be the mastermind of the drug and sex racket. According to police, Gupta used to sell noodles at a food stall in Sigra. However, within just 2 years, he became the owner of the Continental Cafe, the epicentre of all the criminal activities linked to the drug and sex racket run by him. Gupta had a gang of 15 men who used to trap young girls, sedate them with drugs, sexually exploit them and record their videos to further blackmail them so that the gang members and their customers could keep exploiting them.
Anmol Gupta had assigned specific roles to all the gang members. One gang member, Sohail, said to be a law student, operated as the right-hand man of Gupta. Another member, Raj Vishwakarma, who worked in a private job, was given the task of supplying drugs. Sajid used to trap girls, while Ayush used to lure school and college-going students to the cafe. Tanveer alias Sameer, who worked as a car mechanic, is himself a drug addict. He was given the task of bringing customers. Another gang member, Imran, studying in the 12th standard, used to record the videos of the sexual exploitation of the victims. Danish used to create hype for the Continental Cafe on social media. Around 18 videos of sexual victims were found on his phone, indicating that there may be multiple victims exploited and raped by the gang.
The victim was taken to multiple locations and raped by multiple people for days
According to the FIR, the victim was sedated and raped by multiple people in diiefferent locations including hotels, hookah bars, lodges and cafes. The brutality started on the night of March 29, 2025, when the victim, a resident of Lalpur Pandeypur police station area of Varanasi, met the accused Raj Vishwakarma when she was returning from a friend’s house. Vishwakarma knew her. He took her to his cafe located in the Lanka area of Varanasi. There he raped the victim all night. The next day, on 30th March, Sameer and Ayush Singh and a few others raped her by threatening to leak her videos. The next day, Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid and Zaheer also joined them. They drugged the victim and took her to Continental Cafe. All of them raped the victim there who was in an unconscious state.
After this, on 1 April, Sajid, along with his friends, took her to a hotel named Girls’ Hostel. Three unknown persons were already present there. The victim was forced to massage the three people despite her refusal. During the massage, she was raped by one of them. From there, Imran forcibly took her to another hotel on a bike where he again drugged and raped her. Thereafter, Sajid, along with his friends, took the victim to a warehouse in Aurangabad. There she was raped by a man named Zaib who was already present there. The victim’s exploitation did not stop here. She was then taken to a room by Sajid, who was accompanied by Aman and one more person. Aman and the other person raped her in the room. After raping the victim, they abandoned her on a road. The victim spent the night near Sigra IP Mall.
On 2nd April, Raj Khan and his friend found her near the mall. They took her to a house in Hukulganj Bagwanala where they fed her noodles laced with sedatives and raped her. They dumped the victim in an unconscious state at Assi Ghat. The victim somehow managed to reach a friend’s house the next day. She left the friend’s house on the evening of 3rd April, but she met Danish. He took her to a room where Sohail, Shoaib and one more person were already present. All of them raped the victim had dumped her near Chowkghat in an unconscious state. Finally, on 4th April, the victim managed to reach her house. After reaching her house, the victim could not speak for 24 hours due to intoxication. She narrated the brutality to her family after gaining consciousness.
A case was registered by the police on 7th April based on the complaint filed by the victim’s mother. The police are on the lookout for the culprits who are on the run.
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