Maharashtra: Sex racket busted at resort in Thane; 27-year-old woman held

The police said that a 27-year-old woman was arrested after the police busted a sex racket at a resort in Mira-Bhayander town of Maharashtra's Thane district

A 27-year-old woman was arrested after the police busted a sex racket at a resort in Mira-Bhayander town of Maharashtra's Thane district, a police official said on Friday, reported the PTI.

The Thane Police's anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) raided a resort in the Uttan area of Mira-Bhayander on January 29 and rescued three women in their 20s during the operation, senior inspector Sameer Ahirrao said, as per the PTI.

The accused, Artidevi Pankajkumar Lehar, was arrested under section 370(3) (trafficking) of the Indian Penal Code, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, officials from the AHTC sent a decoy customer to the resort and apprehended the accused while she was negotiating a deal, the official said, adding that further probe is underway, according to the PTI.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in collaboration with the Thane Police, on Thursday seized banned gutkha and tobacco products worth nearly Rs 38 lakh in Thane district of Maharashtra, officials said, as per the PTI.

Acting on a tip-off, the FDA personnel conducted a surprise check at a godown complex in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra and discovered an abandoned tempo.

An inspection of the tempo revealed that the vehicle was loaded with prohibited goods like gutkha and tobacco products.

The gutkha and tobacco products worth Rs 37,91,844 was seized by the officials, they said.

According to the news agency, the tempo valued at Rs 15 lakh was also confiscated, Inspector Santosh Shinde of the Narpoli police station said.

The vehicle's driver and other individuals associated with the stock allegedly fled the scene, he said.

An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and FDA Rules at the Narpoli police station in Bhiwandi area of Thane district against several unidentified accused, including the tempo driver, its owner and the person who owned the seized stock, Shinde said, as per the PTI.

He said that the efforts were underway to locate and apprehend the accused.

The sale and consumption of gutkha, scented and flavoured tobacco products have been banned in Maharashtra since 2012. 

(with PTI inputs)

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