INDIA. Mumbai: The officers of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police raided a hotel located at Andheri East in north-west Mumbai on Monday night, rescued two Uzbek women pushed into prostitution by the hotel staff and hustlers and arrested four persons in connection with the crime.
“The arrested four persons—two hustlers and two hotel employees—were remanded to police custody for seven days by Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate on Tuesday. Further investigation is being conducted by Unit VIII of the Crime Branch,” read an official statement.
While the hustlers brought in girls, the hotel provided rooms. During the raid on Room No. 418, the police seized the mephedrone worth Rs 3.20 lakh, the mobile phones valued at Rs 38,500, and Rs 9220 in cash.
An offence (Crime Branch FIR No. 42/2023/MIDC Police FIR No. 285/2023) has been registered under sections 370(3), 465, 471, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code read with sections 04 and 05 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 and sections 8 (K), 22 (B), and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985.
Police Inspector Arun Thorat of the Anti-Extortion Cell received a tip that a prostitution ring was operating with foreign girls at Hotel VITS, which is close to Sahar Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport), which prompted the raid.
The rescued Uzbek women came to India in 2021, but the information on their visa was not immediately available. The hustlers are said to have helped the Uzbek women get Aadhaar cards for Rs 2 lakh each. A police official said that the hustlers had taken the passports of these women into their custody so that they could be forced into prostitution as per their requirements.
The operation was carried out under the direction of Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and DCP Mohit Kumar Garg by Police Officers Dnyaneshwar Ganore, Kiran Londhe, Sarita Gawade, and Anita Kadam and staff.
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