Two women rescued from prostitution racket in Deccan, four arrested

Two women were rescued from a prostitution racket run from a hotel in Deccan area on Friday. Four men were arrested for running the prostitution racket and they were identified as Vishal Deshmukh, Santosh, Vishal and Vinod Parshuram Varak. The arrest was made after a raid by the social security cell of Pune police at the Ashok Deluxe Hotel on Jungli Maharaj road, near Sambhaji garden, in Deccan area.

While one woman hails from Kota, Rajasthan, the other is a native of Banaras in Uttar Pradesh, according to the police. The women were taken to the rehabilitation home in Mohammadwadi, Hadapsar area, and to Sassoon general hospital for medical tests.

The police recovered four mobile phones and cash worth Rs 12,000 from the hotel during the raid. While Deshmukh is said to be the main accused, Vishal and Santosh were found to be the agents who fixed appointments with the women at various hotels. Varak is the manager of the hotel they were arrested from.

A case under Sections 370, 370(a) and 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956, was registered against the four at Deccan Gymkhana police station. The Deccan police will investigate the case further. The raid was carried out initially by the social security cell and the Deccan police based on information received by Hawaldar Nitin Tarte of the social security cell claiming that Deshmukh was running a prostitution business from various hotels in the city.

First Published: Apr 15, 2018 15:38 IST