The court has issued orders to ban four website that had published advertisements for selling a 15-year-old girl for sexual exploitation, says Senior DIG Ajith Rohana.

Accordingly, the Director-General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has been directed to take necessary measures in this regard.

The order has been issued after taking into consideration a request made by the Police Children & Women Bureau, the police spokesman stated further.

The incident first came to light during an investigation launched by the Mount Lavinia Police into a person arrested on June 07. Later, the Police Children & Women Bureau took over the probes into this controversial child sex trafficking case.

More than 40 suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, so far.

Among the arrestees are the mother of the victimized teen, the vice-chairman of Mihintale Pradeshiya Sabha, vehicle drivers, the man who designed the advertisement and a saffron-robed person, a captain of a ship, several crew members, a gem merchant, four owners of websites that had published the advertisement, former Maldivian State Minister Mohamed Ashmalee, the manager of the hotel used by the perpetrators to exploit the teen, a cardiologist of a well-known hospital, a surgeon of Sri Lanka Navy, a former bank manager, and a police officer.

The law enforcement authorities had uncovered that the perpetrators had posted several advertisements online and sold the teen to third parties for a period of three months. Reportedly, over a dozen of the suspects in custody had procured the girl for sexual exploitation.