Andheri: 28-year-old man held for running prostitution racket

Accused identified as Mohammed Shaikh. Representation pic/iStock

The Amboli police busted a prostitution racket and arrested a 28-year-old man while also rescuing a 30-year-old woman from a hotel lodge in Andheri West.

Police have identified the accused as Mohammed Gulab Fulbabu Shaikh, alias Sarfaraz, a resident of Versova and a native of Bihar.

Police said that to nab the accused, they sent a decoy customer and trapped him. Sarfaraz had been operating the prostitution racket in Versova for the past year, targeting young women and aspiring models.

Police Inspector Vasant Devkate of Amboli police station received a tip-off, and to arrest the accused, he formed a team and arranged for a man to pose as a bogus customer. On May 16 at around 8 pm, the decoy contacted the accused. Sarfaraz sent multiple photos of several young women and quoted a rate of R5000,
said police.

A police officer said, "Sarfaraz shared the location and met the decoy customer in Andheri West, where he accepted R5000. He then escorted him to a room at a lodge in Andheri West where a 30-year-old woman was found."

The police raided the lodge, arrested Sarfaraz from there, and rescued the victim.

"We arrested Sarfaraz, who had been running the prostitution racket for the past year. Our team trapped him using a decoy customer and also rescued the woman," PI Devkate said.

May 16
Day accused was arrested