Sex racket busted; two held

Thane, Nov 19: Two teenage girls including a Bangladeshi were rescued from Bhiwandi here after police busted a prostitution racket and arrested two persons in this connection.

The raid was carried out last night at Kalher lodge on the Thane-Bhiwandi road after which lodge manager Pappu Yadav (19) and pimp Jyoti Madyul (34) were placed under arrest, PI Sakheel Shaikh said today. Police also rescued two girls aged 16 and 18 years and one of them was a Bangladeshi national. Both the minors are lodged with the women welfare department, he said.

During the raid, police also recovered Rs 76,652 cash. A case under sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 370 A (exploitation of a trafficked person), 372 (selling minor for purposes of prostitution, etc) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4,8 and 16 of The Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) and sections 3,4,5, and 7 of Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) have been registered with the Narpoli police station of Bhiwandi division.

PTI