Prostitution Ring Posing as Spa Uncovered in Navi Mumbai; Three Arrested by Crime Branch

The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch arrested three individuals, including a woman, at a spa in Sanpada (East) and rescued three women who were being forced into prostitution. The illegal operation was being run under the guise of providing body massages.

Senior Police Inspector Prithviraj Ghorpade of the AHTU received credible information from an informant about The Dreams Spa, located at Shop Number 14 in the Ramtanu Mauli Building, Sector-1, Sanpada East, where women were being coerced into prostitution under the pretense of a spa business.

Acting on this tip-off, the AHTU sent an undercover operative to the location. The undercover agent was shown three women being offered for prostitution. Once the decoy gave the signal, the AHTU team conducted a raid. During the operation, three individuals, including a woman, were arrested. They were identified as Rakesh Pramod Pingale (38), Nazia Bandenvaz Sheikh (23), and Akash Lalsingh Chauhan (25).

According to the police, the suspects conspired to exploit the three victims by presenting them as body massage therapists while forcing them into prostitution. The accused charged the undercover customer Rs 4,500 as a fee for the illegal services, using the victims for their financial gain.

The raid exposed the prostitution activities being masked as a massage parlor service. A case has been registered against the three suspects at Sanpada Police Station under sections 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, on September 3, 2024. Further investigations into the crime are being conducted by the Sanpada Police Station.