Navi Mumbai police bust prostitution racket in Taloja MIDC hotel

Representational Image

The Navi Mumbai crime branch has rescued a Bangladeshi minor girl and six other women, including two Bangladeshi nationals, from a prostitution racket operating out of a hotel in Taloja MIDC.

The raid was carried out at Hotel Navnath Inn, following a tip-off received on December 21 by Senior Police Inspector Prithviraj Ghorpade. The informer alleged that the hotel management was facilitating prostitution by charging customers Rs 2000 and providing women kept in lodge rooms.

To verify the information, police sent a decoy customer to the lodge. After a pre-arranged signal was received, the crime branch team conducted a raid and rescued the victims, who were allegedly being exploited for prostitution.

Police arrested three accused - lodge owner Vasant Ganesh Shetty, lodge manager Girish Vitthal Shetty, and service boy Roshan Ramjit Yadav. Investigations revealed that the trio had allegedly conspired to procure and harbour the minor girl and the women. The service boy is accused of accepting money from customers and arranging illegal activities within the lodge.

The operation was conducted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell under the directions of Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe and senior officials.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said police.