Among those rescued, one has worked in a Marathi movie and serials. The minor has worked in a web series. (Photo Credit: News Nation)
New Delhi:
In a startling development, a high-profile sex racket was busted at a prominent hotel in Mumbai’s Andheri area. A three-star hotel located in the bustling suburbs of the ‘Maximum City’ served as the conduit for the flesh trade. The most shocking aspect of the case is that the sex racket involved three female TV stars also. One of them has worked in popular crime show called ‘Savdhaan India’. Another TV star is a minor, the police official said. News Nation has learnt that the accused were running the sex racket in guise of a travel agency.
The prime accused has been identified as one Priya Sharma. She used to run a similar ‘tourist’ agency in Kandivali area of Mumbai. The women were rescued after the Mumbai Police conducted a special late-night operation on Thursday. According to Sandesh Revale, senior inspector of Social Service branch of the Mumbai Police, “While one of the rescued is a woman actor and singer, who has worked in 'Savdhaan India' TV crime show, he said, another one has worked in a Marathi movie and serials. The minor has worked in a web series.”
The is not the first time that a sex racket has been unearthed in Andheri. Earlier in July last year, a major prostitution racket was found operating in luxury hotels and homes in the Mumbai Suburb. Six people were arrested in this connection. The accused used to lure customers by offering a "spa at home" service, police said. Unit-9 of the Mumbai Crime Branch had raided a five-star hotel in suburban Andheri and rescued three women who had been forced into prostitution, a police official said.
The police had arrested Rajnish Singh (35), owner of Rajnish Wellness Ltd, a company which was allegedly a front for a prostitution racket, the official said. Besides Singh, five women, who worked at the company's office, were also arrested. The women allegedly took calls from prospective customers, the police official had informed media.
Similarly, sex racket was discovered running in guise of spas in Noida’s Atta market in July last year. Thirty-five people, including 25 women, were arrested during simultaneous police raids at over a dozen spa centres allegedly running sex rackets, officials said. There were foreign nationals among those arrested, including those from Thailand, the police officials said, but did not give their exact count. A case was lodged against the spa centres and their owners would be booked under the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act.
