MUMBAI: The Mira Bhayandar–Vasai Virar (MBVV) crime branch has arrested a 41-year-old television actress for allegedly running a prostitution racket by luring struggling actors from the film and television industry into the flesh trade. Two women, who had worked in TV serials and Bengali films, were rescued during the raid.
The accused, identified as Anushka Das, had allegedly been operating the racket for several months. According to investigators, Das would receive calls from male clients on her mobile phone and then arrange meetings at pre-decided locations. At these spots, she would introduce women working in the entertainment industry to prospective clients and negotiate deals in exchange for money and her commission.
Acting on a tip-off, officers set a trap on Thursday using a decoy customer. Around 5 pm, Das—who resides in Oshiwara—arrived at the designated spot with two women from the industry and accepted money from the dummy client. The crime branch immediately swooped in, arrested her, and rescued the two women.
An FIR has been registered by police sub-inspector Anil Pawar under section 143(3) (trafficking of person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 4 and 5 (penalises living on the earnings of prostitution) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. “The accused has been handed over to the concerned police station,” confirmed Madan Ballal, assistant commissioner of police, MBVV crime branch.
Das’s arrest also revives memories of her stormy past. In November 2007, when she was known by her earlier name Calcutta Moon Das, her ex-lover, Avinash Bhupen Patnaik, stormed into her Andheri flat with a revolver. Unable to find her at home, he shot dead her mother and maternal uncle before killing himself. Then just 23, Das had changed her name to Anushka after the tragedy and attempted to rebuild her career in modelling and television. Nearly two decades later, she finds herself in the spotlight again—this time for all the wrong reasons.
{{/usCountry}}Das’s arrest also revives memories of her stormy past. In November 2007, when she was known by her earlier name Calcutta Moon Das, her ex-lover, Avinash Bhupen Patnaik, stormed into her Andheri flat with a revolver. Unable to find her at home, he shot dead her mother and maternal uncle before killing himself. Then just 23, Das had changed her name to Anushka after the tragedy and attempted to rebuild her career in modelling and television. Nearly two decades later, she finds herself in the spotlight again—this time for all the wrong reasons.
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