Eight persons, including the manager of a lodge, were today arrested from Bhiwandi town for allegedly pushing girls into flesh trade even as 18 women were rescued during a raid, police said.
Thane police's social security cell late last night conducted a raid at Abhishek Lodge and Atish Bar near Anjur Phata in Bhiwandi, said Inspector Mandal Ballal.
Police rescued 18 women in the age group of 20 to 30 years from the lodge and the bar where they were allegedly being forced into flesh trade, he said, adding that the accused would take away the earnings of these women.
Most of the rescued women are residents of Ganesh Nagar in the Kamatghar area of Bhiwandi, he said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abhishek Lodge manager Manoj Shetty, waiters Raju Pawar and Santosh Saheni, and Chandar Shetty, Rajaram Shetty, Santosh Jaiswal, Ajay Saw and Umesh Devdia from the bar.
The eight have been booked under Sections 370(2)(3) (buying or disposing of any person as slave) of IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), 1956, police said.
