Police raid spa in Odhav, book owner, manager for alleged prostitution racket

On Wednesday night, Odhav police raided a spa centre in the area and booked its owner and manager for allegedly running an illegal prostitution racket under the guise of massage services.

According to Odhav police, the raid was conducted at ‘New Look Spa’, located at Shop No. 207 on the second floor of Jhanvi Arcade at S P Ring Road in Odhav, following a tip-off received by the police.

Police said the spa was allegedly being operated by Manish Kumar Panchal, 39, a resident of Khodiyarnagar in Nikol, who is accused of bringing women from outside Gujarat and employing them at the spa for commercial sexual exploitation. Another accused was identified as Rahim Rajkumar Borjola, 26, originally from Tripura, who allegedly worked as the manager of the establishment.

According to Sub-Inspector D I Patel of Odhav police station, a decoy customer was sent to the spa after police received information that customers were allegedly being offered sexual services in exchange for money.

The police team, accompanied by panch witnesses and female police personnel, conducted the raid around 8.20 pm on May 13. The decoy customer allegedly handed over marked currency notes to the manager after negotiating for sexual services.

During the search of the premises, police found several women and customers inside different rooms of the spa. Statements recorded by the police alleged that some of the women, who were originally from Tripura, had been working at the spa for the past few months and were being paid salaries ranging from ₹15,000 to ₹18,000 per month.

Police said cash allegedly received from customers was recovered from the reception counter during the raid, including marked currency notes that had been provided to the decoy customer beforehand.

Police are also verifying the ages and identities of the women found at the premises to ascertain whether any minors were involved.

An offence has been registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and other applicable sections of law.