Prostitution racket at Colaba hotel busted; 2 women, 1 minor rescued

A day after the anti-narcotic cell (ANC) busted a prostitution racket run under the guise of a massage spa, the cell on Saturday raided a similar racket posing as

A day after the anti-narcotic cell (ANC) busted a prostitution racket run under the guise of a massage spa, the cell on Saturday raided a similar racket posing as an escort service in Colaba. Police rescued two women who are aspiring models and a minor girl from the site.

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Crime branch investigators received information about a prostitution racket in south Mumbai. Acting on the tip, the ANC team along with the social service branch of the Mumbai crime branch, sent a dummy customer who called up the service.

“We laid a trap after the dummy customer was asked to come to Hotel Blue Light in Colaba to choose a girl. We then raided the hotel room,” said deputy commissioner of police, Shivdeep Lande.

Police arrested Momin Akthar, the hotel owner; Virendra Thakur, a waiter; and Sanjay Jain, a businessman who had come to the hotel to pick up one of the women, and rescued the two women and the 17-year-old girl. The three arrested accused have been charged under relevant sections of the IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986.

Police are now in search of the main accused, a woman from Udaipur who runs the prostitution racket. The rescued women and minor have been sent to a rehabilitation centre.