Navi Mumbai: The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch has rescued two women from an alleged trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation racket operating out of a lodge in the Panvel area. Three persons, including the lodge manager, a waiter and an alleged middleman, have been arrested.
The operation was carried out on Monday after AHTU officers deployed a decoy customer. According to police, the accused accepted ₹5,000 from the decoy before arranging for one of the women at the lodge, following which the team conducted a raid.
Senior Inspector Gajanan Ghadge identified the arrested accused as Prakash Gupta (28), manager of Hotel Krantiveer Lodging and Boarding in Shirdhon village; Priyaranjan Rai (18), a waiter at the lodge; and Asgar Fakir Shaikh (38), a resident of Vichumbe village, who is alleged to have acted as the middleman.
Police said Shaikh allegedly brought the two women to the lodge. The rescued women, aged 30 and 22, are originally from West Bengal and Assam and were residing in the Panvel area.
An FIR was registered at Panvel City Police Station on Tuesday. Acting on the directions of the Panvel court, the rescued women were shifted to a government-recognised women’s welfare centre in Mumbai for care and rehabilitation.
The three accused have been remanded to police custody until August 7.
Investigators said they seized mobile phones belonging to the accused, which allegedly contained text messages and photographs exchanged between the middleman, the manager and the waiter as part of coordinating the operation. Police also seized the middleman’s scooter, which was allegedly used in the commission of the offence.
According to the investigation, the women told police they were paid between ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 per customer, while the accused allegedly retained a portion of the proceeds. Police further alleged that customers were provided rooms without recording their details in the lodge register or collecting copies of their Aadhaar cards, in violation of prescribed procedures.
Further investigation into the case is underway.
