Prostitution racket busted in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: The police, on Saturday, arrested a man for allegedly operating a prostitution racket from a spa and massage centre in Sector 43.

A team of police personnel, including women staff, from the Sushant Lok police station raided the spa at Vyapar Kendra in Sector 43.

According to Arvind Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Sushant Lok police station, the accused owner of the spa is a resident of Laxman Vihar, Sector 3A.

“We received a tip-off that a prostitution racket was being operated under the guise of a spa. The women working at the centre were questioned, and the accused was arrested,” said Kumar.

Police officials said a decoy customer was sent to the centre, and after sufficient evidence of the owner’s involvement in prostitution was found, the spa centre was raided.

Kumar said the women working at the centre belong to northeast India.

A case was registered, on Saturday, against the spa owner under sections 3 (keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel), 4 (living on the earnings of prostitution), 5 (procuring, inducing or taking person for the sake of prostitution), 7 (prostitution in or in the vicinity of public spaces) and 8 (seducing or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, at Sushant Lok police station, said the police.

The accused was produced before a duty magistrate and sent to judicial custody.

In July, the police had arrested 15 people, including five foreign nationals from a spa in Sector 29 for alleged involvement in sex trade.

In 2016, eight cases of immoral trafficking were registered in Gurugram, while in 2017, 13 cases were registered.