Male for Sale

The double murder of Akhtar Afindi and Jamshed Alam at their Shaheen Park residence recently, has thrown up interesting facts like, it had a gay angle. According to cops, Akhtar was a bisexual and in relationship with Jamshed. It reminds one of the sensational Pushkin Chandra double murder case.
Pushkin Chandra, a USAID employee, and his friend Kuldeep were murdered in former’s posh Anand Lok residence in August 2004 by gay prostitutes. These murders are just the tip of the iceberg. The business of gay prostitutes and gigolos is thriving in Delhi’s underbelly. Unable to make it big in the glam world, some struggling models and college hunks are lured by sex with different women and earning quick money to make their lives easy. Some unemployed youth, generally having weak economical background, become gay prostitutes.
A gigolo’s tale
It was in 1991 that a young 18-year-old Suresh came from Dehradun, nurturing his dreams of becoming a footballer and donning Indian colours. However, his tale wasn’t of success and glory, it had other ingredients to it, full with spice and sexual flavours.
Struggling to make a career in football, Suresh was introduced to male prostitution by a colony aunt. She was fascinated by the sporty physique of Suresh and for sexual favours she started giving her money. Soon he was introduced to few more ladies who were ready to pay for sexual favours. He left football and became a professional prostitute or a gigolo often meandering around Ring Road at South Extension or Andrewsganj. Three years of joyride, Suresh was finally diagnosed of veneral disease. All that boasting about sleeping with different women and money splashing at home in Dehradun became his nemesis.
Gigolo factoid
Gigolos then remained inside the closet. However, as Delhi entered a new millennium, things changed. Gigolos became widespread here; perhaps the booming Indian economy has also a share in their growth. They come in all forms – masseurs, escorts, male strippers and male prostitutes. Few who don’t fit in that bracket have managed to become gay prostitutes earning just Rs 200-300 per hour. A search in google for ‘gigolos in Delhi’ returns 644 web pages mostly having phone numbers and contact details of them. And never do they land up in the hands of the law. It’s a business where these male and gay prostitutes roam around doing their business scot-free.
“It’s a profession where one enters by choice and has the elements of everything that today’s youth dreams of. Unlimited sex with different partners in cooler climes of five top hotels, dining and partying in top nightclubs and meeting the likes of rich and famous of the city, not to mention about maintaining hefty bank balances and driving flashy cars,” says a Delhi-based gigolo.
Hardships too lead to it
Bollywood hero Vikram Kumar who played a character in the movie Sauten where he has an affair with both, daughter and stepmother simultaneously says, “Becoming a gigolo is quick money for aspiring actors and models with smart looks and nice body, only thing is they have to sleep with ugly looking aunty.” Vikram, who spent quite a time in Delhi before shifting his base to Mumbai, says, “It mostly happens in Mehrauli and chattarpur areas in farm houses. These good-looking guys go to parties organised by rich ladies and do a strip show and so on.”
In Mumbai too Vikram says, “Most of the budding models in search for a career in Bollywood hang out in innumerous coffee joints so that someone from the industry might notice them and give a break. Since Mumbai is an expensive city, they need money to survive. Till the time they get support from parents it is ok. But then they start indulging into such activities to sustain a living. In Mumbai there are some coordinators who facilitate them in getting business. So daytime, it’s coffee joints for them and night they do business sleeping around with aunties.”
Male prostitution in Delhi, Vikram says, is not that organised. “Lot of such things happen at the ramp shows. Sadly, male models get ruined by designers, as some have to sleep with them too, not to talk about women,” he adds.
As of now, business for gigolos, gay prostitutes and male escorts is rocking. With the gleaning eye of cops closed, welcome to Delhi - the world full of sex, sleaze and disease.

The Coke stops here!

Finally Judiciary has opened its eyes and the Supreme Court has frowned upon the "liquor addiction" among "younger generation". Not only this, the Court has also asked the government to work towards reducing the consumption of liquor. It's a welcome step but it seems that the Court should also turn its eyes towards the growing number of drugs in the capital and in the country as a whole.

Delhi is fast becoming the Drug capital of India and it is making its presence felt in the international drug market too as an important transit point. The Indian capital ignonimously sees a heavy import of Cocaine and ecstasy pills in the country whereas it is becoming a huge exporter of heroin, which comes to the capital from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and hashish, which comes to the market from Malana, in Himachal, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

The hash from Nepal and Arunachal is fast catching up in the Indian as well as international market and is competing with the famed Malana cream. Also drugs from Afghanistan have managed to sneak into India through some Kashmiri youth also dealing in illegal arms supplies was busted by Delhi Police's Narcotics department last year in November. It was claimed to be the biggest catch of the decade, sadly the dealers are out on bail and not even a single drug dealer caught by the cops last year is languishing in jail. This is where the judiciary now has to turn its eyes.
Coke trails
In recent times, Cocaine and other synthetic drugs have already gripped the youth and P3 frat in the city. Cocaine generally comes to India from Africa. India is an important transit point for this white gold. The normal international trade route of cocaine is from Columbia to African countries from where it travels to either Delhi or Mumbai and from here it travels to European countries. A large part of the consignment is dropped in India for consumption. It costs Rs 3,500-8,000 per gram in the Indian market.
Heroine
It is nothing but raw opium treated with acetic anhydride. Acetic Anhydride is although banned in the country but is used in the dye industry. According to AS Cheema, DCP (Narcotics), "It is sold in the market for Rs 3 lakh per kilogram, but to get a hit very low quantity is required. For a drug addict, heroine worth Rs 40 or 50 is enough to get a high."

That's the reason it is widespread in Delhi. According to Cheema, "Heroine is an injectible drug. The heroine addicts exchange needles and it can have serious repercussions like communicable diseases.

The importance of heroine in terms of cocaine dealers is that it used for reverse trade. "Carriers of cocaine take back heroine to Nigeria and other African countries as well as European nations," says Cheema. Heroine is exported from the country through export consignments. They are generally packed inside shoes and last year a consignment was caught where drugs were hidden inside shock absorbers. Generally Department of Revenue Intelligence and Customs catch these rackets.
Hashish
It is Hash or hashish and grass (dried cannabis leaves), which is a cause of worry for narcotics officials. Intake of this is extremely widespread among the youth and student community. "A large quantity of hash is being consumed in Delhi. Recently we caught a 50-year-old woman with 9 kg of hash imported from Nepal. Sad part is that large part of students are getting caught in this cobweb," says Cheema.

Hash and grass is freely available in Delhi and can easily be obtained from jhuggi clusters mostly surrounding campuses and most of south Delhi areas. Denotified tribes and small drug peddlers mostly sell these drugs. "It's very difficult to curtail them. It's a family-based drug business. If even two or three of the family are in jail, the business never stops. Be it wife or daughter or son, everybody is involved in this selling business," adds Cheema.

On the parallel, Delhi is also one of the biggest exporters of hash. The famed Malana hash is exported from here. Local people from Kullu valley, Israelis and Nigerians are involved in the exporting business. A kilogram of hash from Malana costs Rs 3 lakh in Delhi. When it reaches the international market, it costs a cool Rs 10-12 lakh.