Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested 35 persons, including 21 women, from a ladies bar in Kalamboli on Friday evening. The accused have been booked under section 5 (procuring, inducing or detaining for prostitution ) and 8 (Soliciting ) of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA).
The police raided Nikesh bar at Kirudpada village near the Kalamboli steel market around 9.15pm. Of the 14 men arrested, two office-bearers, Rama Kulal and Suresh Naik, were present; others were customers, who reportedly visited the bar regularly.
Police raided various places in the city in the last six to seven months. However, the exception in this case is that all women, who were also booked under PITA, are locals of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. “In other cases, most women are outsiders, from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. However, in this case almost all women are from Kalamboli, Panvel, Mankhurd and Govandi areas. There were no minor girls among the arrested women,” said Sheshrao Suryavanshi, assistant commissioner of police.
“We sent a boy as a customer to the bar. Based on the reports, we conducted a raid and arrested those present. As per the license, only 16 women are allowed in the bar, but they hired 21 of them.
They reportedly lured customers with indecent clothes and gestures. But we did not find any proof of prostitution inside the bar,” he said.
“We are investigating the case to find more details about the immoral business of the bar. We have not recovered a any jewellery or cash from the bar,” said P Tarade, police inspector of Kalamboli police station. Those arrested were produced before the judicial court on Saturday evening. The Panvel city police recently undertook a drive to reduce the menace of prostitution and arrested 33 commercial sex workers from various parts of the city. As many as 90 women, including 14 minors, were rescued from a bar-cum-lodge in Panvel in the first week of May. In all, 45 persons, including a few agents, responsible for supplying girls were also arrested.
