Seven women, including four from Thailand, were rescued after a prostitution racket operating under the guise of a spa was busted in Pune's upscale neighbourhood of Koregaon Park, officials informed on Thursday.
According to the police, the Social Security Cell of the Crime Branch conducted a raid on Ela Spa in Koregaon Park on Tuesday evening, dismantling the prostitution racket and rescuing seven young women. Among them, four were from Thailand, two from Mizoram, and one from Chhattisgarh, the police added.
The accused have been identified as Shah Rukh Ahmad Chaudhary (27), a resident of Jadhav Nagar, Mundhwa, and Surendra Jagannath Patil (32), a resident of Sukhwani Royal Society, Vimannagar. They have been booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Chaudhary, originally from Hojai district in Assam, worked as a manager at the spa, while Patil is its owner.
The Social Security Cell had received information that Indian and foreign girls were involved in the prostitution business from a couple of months at the spa. Acting on the tip-off, a dummy customer was sent to the spa. Upon confirmation, a raid was conducted, busting the racket. During the operation, the police seized valuables worth ₹49,500, including ₹4,500 in cash and three mobile phones.
This incident comes only a few days after a police sub-inspector was found dead on the staircase of a building in Koregaon Park.
