The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar City Police arrested a woman, her daughter, and son-in-law for their involvement in a flesh trade operation and rescued five women from their clutches, officials announced on Tuesday.
According to the police, Zone 2 DCP Navneet Kanwat received information about a brothel operating in the CR Residency building at Itkheda in the Satara area. Acting on this tip-off, a police team led by ACP Ranjeet Patil set up a trap. A dummy customer was dispatched to the location, where he requested a girl from the couple residing in flat no. 3 of the building. They provided a girl, and the customer took her into a room, signalling the police team hidden nearby.
The police team swiftly entered the flat and apprehended the couple identified as Sharad Sanjay Salve (20) and Rohini Sharad Salve (21). Upon further investigation inside the flat, another girl was found with the customer. During interrogation, the victim revealed that she was coerced into the flesh trade due to financial need.
Rohini confessed to the police that her mother, Madhuri Suresh Thorat, ran a flesh trade operation. She would procure women from various locations in the city and offer them to customers. Rohini and her husband, Sharad, would then seek out customers by sending messages via WhatsApp and subsequently trapping them.
The police intercepted one such message and, upon gathering more information, confirmed the existence of the flesh trade operation in the city. Subsequently, they took action to dismantle the sex racket, stated DCP Kanwat.
