Maharashtra: Five women rescued from flesh trade in Thane

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Five women have been rescued from flesh trade in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.

A 27-year-old woman, hailing from Parbhani, was arrested on Monday for allegedly running the prostitution racket, they said

Acting on a tip, a team of the police's anti-human trafficking cell kept a vigil on Monday and spotted the accused with five women at a spot on Kalwa Vitava road, reported PTI.

The police sent a decoy customer to trap the woman and caught her, an official said.

The accused was booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, he said, reported PTI.

The five rescued women, in the age group of 22 to 33 years and hailing from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, were sent to a shelter home, the official said.

In another case, police have registered a case against a man on charges of negligence while bursting firecrackers which led to a blaze in a house located near his residence in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Wednesday, reported PTI.

The incident took place on Monday evening during a wedding celebration at the man's residence located in a building in Ambernath area.

The accused allegedly burst firecrackers in the compound of his building. One of the lit crackers fell in the balcony of a house located opposite to the building, leading to a fire in the balcony, the official from Ambernath police station said, reported PTI.

The fire damaged grilles and some other materials in that house, he said.

Based on a complaint by a resident of the fire-affected house, the police on Tuesday registered an FIR against the man under Indian Penal Code section 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage), the official said, adding that a probe was on into the case, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)