13 August,2026 08:26 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
A case was registered against the three accused at Vitthalwadi Police station on Wednesday. Representational Pic
Police have busted a prostitution racket allegedly being operated from a house in Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra's Thane district and arrested three people, including two female brokers, officials said on Thursday.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the Thane Police Crime Branch raided the house in Pachpandav Colony on Tuesday evening and rescued two women, news agency PTI reported, quoting officials.
Acting on a tip-off, a special police team laid a trap and raided the premises around 6.30 pm. The accused allegedly lured vulnerable women into prostitution by promising them money, while one of the female accused allegedly provided her residence to run the racket.
A case was registered against the three accused at Vitthalwadi Police station on August 12 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, PTI reported.
In a similar incident earlier this week, police raided a spa in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township and rescued three women allegedly forced into prostitution, officials said on Tuesday.
The officials, while briefing about the operation, said that the spa manager has already been arrested, PTI reported.
Based on a tip-off, the police's anti-human trafficking cell conducted the raid after sending a decoy customer to the spa in Kharghar on August 8.
In a separate incident last week, Thane Police in Maharashtra busted an alleged prostitution racket operating at a hotel in the city, arresting a woman broker and rescuing four women, officials said.
The operation was carried out at a hotel located on Pokhran Road in Thane West.
According to Madan Ballal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), the accused allegedly lured financially distressed women with false promises before bringing them to the hotel and forcing them into commercial sex work.
Acting on a tip-off, the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) laid a trap, detained the woman broker and rescued four women from her custody.
To ensure their safety and welfare, the rescued women have been shifted to a state-run protection and rehabilitation shelter home, the official said.
An FIR has been registered at the Vartak Nagar police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police said another woman has also been named as an accused in the case, and she is absconding. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest her.
(With PTI inputs)
