Gujarat Spa crackdown: 27 licences revoked; payment gateways intercepted
103 FIRs against 152 accused have been filed, out of which 105 were arrested
Updated: Oct 21st, 2023
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| Image: IANS |
Updated on Oct 21, 1.25 p.m.
Third-party QR codes used for payment
Illicit activities conducted at Ahmedabad spas involved money transactions ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000, as per the police officials. These transactions were carried out through third-party Quick Response (QR) codes, which were registered in the names of several individuals. This ‘payment gateway’ was set up by a Sardarnagar resident in Ahmedabad, who had established commission-based deals with the spas for it.
In a major crackdown at eradicating human trafficking under the guise of spa centres and hotels, following the directives from the home ministry for the state, simultaneous raids were carried out across the state on Oct 19.
The drive included 851 raids across the state, during which the licence of 27 spa centres and hotels was revoked.
Through a video conference, the ministry ordered Gujarat police to raid spa centres, commercial buildings, and hotels of the state.
So far, the drive has 103 FIRs against 152 accused, out of which 105 were arrested.
The minister of home for the state, Harsh Sanghvi, held a meeting on Oct 17 with the superintendent of police, range offices, police commissioner, joint police commissioner, and deputy police commissioner to raid the places of interest in cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, and more.
According to reports, the raids are still being conducted and more arrests may soon follow.
In Ahmedabad, around 25 places were raided and 13 owners of such spa/massage centres were charged with the breach of disclosure for not disclosing the identities of the staff at the centres.
In a notable operation in Vadodara, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, along with the Zone 2 Local Crime Branch, executed a raid on Old Padra Road. Four women were rescued, and legal actions were initiated against two spa operators for violating regulations.
Surat witnessed meticulously planned operations based on tip-offs about illegal activities within spas, resulting in over 50 cases registered in just one day.
Rajkot’s police units, conducting joint raids on city spas, have sent a clear message to spa managers about intensified monitoring. Sources said that the authorities plan to sustain the heightened vigilance with continuous operations.
The involvement
However, many operators of such spa and massage centres in Ahmedabad confessed to paying instalments to local police officials, which according to sources, have been kept off the record by the police.
Sources suggest that there are 2200 spa centres registered under Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act (gumasta dhara), from where such instalments are collected by a certain set of administrators. The unregistered spa centres are also prevalent in Ahmedabad, in large numbers.
Sources suggest that such centres are face for illegal sex work, where allegedly instalments worth ₹10,000 are collected from certain authoritative elements.
On the other hand, some police officials say that they are working on the orders from above, and they face disgrace for that.
(With inputs from IANS)
