It is around 9.30 p.m. and traffic is still busy near the Kavundampalayam Police Check Post on Mettupalayam Road. People using the Mettupalayam Road would not have missed the stalls selling colourfully painted flower pots that line the pavement diagonally opposite the Check Post.

A couple of transgenders, clad in colourful saris and wearing long strings of jasmine flowers take their position near one of the mud-clay pot stalls. It is time for business. According to sources in the area, 9 p.m. to midnight are the peak hours for flesh trade.

When The Covai Post got a whiff of this, we decided to track the story. Our reporters followed the pattern for almost a week (see video attached) and found what the residents had to say was true. Five to six transgenders are found soliciting business every night on the busy road. People come in cars and two-wheelers. The place is mostly a pick-up and drop point.

Even as the city police have been busting sex rackets in residential areas in the city, flesh trade seems to thrive without much hindrance close to this police check post near Kavundampalayam.

And, what is of significance here is that all this is not done secretively, behind bushes or in the shadows. But all this transpires right under the road lamp post or in front of the well-lit sweet shop (seen in the video) opposite the check post. Fixing of rates, mode of transport and other terms are all done right there. If the terms do not work out, the transgenders turn away the client and continue to wait for the next one.

Once the terms are fixed, the transgenders either go with the clients in their cars or follow them in their two-wheelers. According to the residents, this has been going on for more than a year. What they are surprised about is that though all these activities take place very close to the police check post, police continue to turn a blind eye.

“Police sometimes chase away these transgenders when they come for rounds. But nothing seems to be done beyond that to stop it permanently,” claims a source.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) Nisha Parthiban told Covai Post that the city police would take stern steps in eradicating the sex racket in the area “We already have a unit headed by an inspector to monitor flesh trade in the city and the drug unit is also monitoring it,” she added.