Spa in Mantri mall used for prostitution: police

Police have unearthed a suspected prostitution racket being run in a spa in Mantri Square, the bustling shopping mall in Malleswaram, north Bengaluru. Three women, hailing from Thailand and Russia, have been rescued.

Sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) raided Spa Nation on the second floor of the mall following credible information, a senior police officer said. The sleuths were taken back by the “audacity” of the racketeers to run the brothel in such a teeming shopping mall. They arrested the spa’s manager, Shobha, 25, a resident of Banaswadi, assistant manager Shehnaz, 28, a resident of Benson Town, and Shariff Saab Hasan Saab Nadar, 23, a housekeeper from Malleswaram. Another staffer, Amit Kumar, is absconding.

The Thai and Russian women had come to Bengaluru looking for a job. They got in touch with the spa management through agents who lured them with the promise of a quick buck. The women were kept in illegal confinement and forced into prostitution, the officer said.

“We will check their visa and passport before taking any further action. The management had obtained licence to run a spa but was running a prostitution racket. It’s unusual that it was operating out of a shopping mall where there is constant movement of people,” the officer said.

A case has been registered at Malleswaram police station.