Ghaziabad police raids spa in Indirapuram, two held, seven women rescued
Prior to Wednesday, on May 24, police raided eight spa centres operating from a mall in Kaushambi and booked 11 spa owners under the provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act over alleged sexual activities happening at these centres
The Ghaziabad police late Wednesday conducted a search at a spa centre being run from a prominent commercial plaza in Indirapuram and rescued seven women who were allegedly forced into prostitution by the spa operators.
Officials said they booked four persons -- two customers and two spa operators -- under different provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act at Indirapuram police station, but only the spa operators were arrested. The customers were served notices to join the investigation.
The police identified the two operators as residents of Nyay Khand in Indirapuram while two customers, both aged 21, were nabbed during the search and identified as residents of Loni and Vasundhara. The search, police said, was conducted pursuant to a tip-off.
The police said when their team searched the spa, they found women staff and men allegedly involved in sexual acts.
“Seven women were rescued from the spa and they told police that they were forced into prostitution by the spa operators who clicked their objectionable pictures and threatened to put them on social media. We received an anonymous complaint, which we suspect came from one of the seven women. The four persons have been booked in the FIR ,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (trans-Hindon).
The women rescued by the police are residents of Ghaziabad and Noida. The police said they recovered used and unused contraceptives besides aphrodisiac tablets from the spa rooms.
“The women told police that the spa operators used to charge a hefty sum from customers and would hand over a small share to the women. The women were sent off with their family members. The two customers were not arrested but served notices. The two spa operators were arrested,” a police officer said, asking not to be named.
This was the second major raid by the police at spa centres.
Prior to Wednesday, on May 24, police raided eight spa centres operating from a mall in Kaushambi and booked 11 spa owners under the provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act over alleged sexual activities happening at these centres.
The police also rescued 39 women from the spa centres who were allegedly forced into sexual activities by the spa operators. Sixty persons, including spa operators, staff and others, were booked in an FIR lodged at Link Road police station.
