Mira-Bhayandar: Auto driver among duo held for running prostitution racket in Kashimira

The Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) crime branch unit (Zone I) police busted a prostitution racket and arrested two men including an auto-rickshaw driver in Kashimira on Friday afternoon for running a prostitution ring.

The racketeers used social messaging platforms including WhatsApp to communicate with other pimps and their potential clients by sharing photographs of women they had to offer.

Acting on a tip-off over the immoral trafficking of women, the crime branch unit led by Police Inspector Aviraj Khurade established contact with the racketeers through two decoy customers. After striking the deal, the decoys informed the police who then laid a trap and apprehended the duo including the auto-driver identified as Kuleshwar Kumar Gupta (42) and another person identified as Babloo from a lodge near the highway in Kashimira.

However, the mastermind of the flesh trade racket is still at large. A case under section 370 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) has been registered against the duo who have been remanded to custody.

Three women who according to the police were forced into prostitution activities were also rescued during the operation. They were sent to the rehabilitation home, police said. Further investigations were underway.