Decoy customer, marked notes: How Ahmedabad Police busted prostitution racket run by a couple
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
A hotel owner and his wife have been booked after the Odhav Police allegedly uncovered a prostitution racket operating from a budget hotel on Ahmedabad's SP Ring Road. Five women from different states were rescued during a late-evening raid carried out on Sunday.
Decoy customer helped expose alleged racket
The raid was conducted at Hotel King Palace, located on the third floor of Crystal Avenue, after police received information that women from outside Gujarat were being brought to the hotel for commercial sexual exploitation.
To verify the tip-off, police deployed a decoy customer carrying four marked ₹500 notes (₹2,000). Investigators alleged that the receptionist accepted the money and arranged a woman for the customer, following which the raiding team entered the premises.
Five women rescued from hotel rooms
During the search, officers found the decoy customer inside Room No. 508 with one woman. Further searches led to the rescue of five women from different rooms.
Police said the rescued women were from Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Sikkim, and were allegedly being housed at the hotel for commercial sexual exploitation.
Owner, wife booked
The accused have been identified as Rajubhai Rameshbhai Panchal (57), the hotel owner, and his wife Bobby Rajubhai Panchal (39), who allegedly managed the reception and day-to-day operations.
According to police, the couple had allegedly been operating the racket for financial gain under the guise of a legitimate hotel business. The marked ₹2,000 used in the decoy operation was recovered from the reception counter and seized as evidence.
Probe into wider trafficking network underway
Police suspect the women were brought from outside Gujarat through a larger network and are now investigating possible agents involved in recruitment and trafficking.
The rescued women have been shifted to protective custody, while investigators are examining how long the alleged racket had been operating and whether any other hotel staff or associates were involved.
