Sex racket busted in Ghaziabad hotel; five trafficked women rescued, two managers among 12 held

Ghaziabad: A police team raided a hotel in Sahibabad and busted a sex racket operating out of the establishment. Cops arrested twelve persons, including two managers and four brokers, from the spot and rescued five women who were allegedly being trafficked by the owner from the hotel. The owner is currently absconding.
On March 22, police received information that trafficking was taking place at Hotel Classic Residency near Shaheed Nagar Metro Station in Sahibabad.
The informant, a resident of the area, told cops that women were being lured into prostitution under false pretences.
Acting on the information, ACP (Sahibabad) Shweta Kumari Yadav sent a plainclothes officer to verify the situation. Once the allegations were confirmed, a team from the Sahibabad police station, led by the SHO, conducted a raid on Monday.
Two of the arrested accused were identified as Ram Chandra Yadav and Raju Yadav, both managers of the hotel. The four brokers were identified as Sanjay Gupta, Masarif, Ajay, and Firasat. The other five accused were customers, police said. The owner of the hotel, Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, is absconding.
According to the ACP, investigation revealed that Maheshwari, a resident of Delhi, was running the prostitution ring. The managers and brokers would arrange for women to engage in prostitution for clients at the hotel under the owner's instructions. The accused would send out photos of the women to clients via WhatsApp and provide the hotel's address to attract them. The managers and brokers would receive a commission for the same.
Further questioning revealed that the operation would yield around Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 daily. Maheshwari would keep Rs 9,000 of the daily earnings and divide the rest among the managers and brokers.
"Mobile phones seized from the brokers contained photos of rescued victims and chats related to rates with clients," the ACP added.
An FIR has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956. All arrested accused were sent to judicial custody after being produced in court and the search is on for the owner.
On Jan 13, cops raided a spa centre in Shopprix Mall in Kaushambi and busted a sex racket. Three people, including the owner, were arrested, and police rescued four women who were allegedly being trafficked by the owner from the spa.
On Feb 5, 2024, seventeen persons were arrested in raids at three spas running similar sex rackets in the Niti Khand area of Indirapuram.