Actor held in Thane district for running prostitution racket

Thane: The police have arrested a 41-year-old actor in Maharashtra’s Thane district for allegedly running a prostitution racket and forcing aspiring women actors into the illegal trade, an official said on Friday.

Acting on a tip, a police team deployed two decoy customers who contacted the accused, identified as Anushka Moni Mohan Das. She allegedly asked the undercover customers to meet her at a mall on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Kashimira on Wednesday, the official said.

“The team raided the premises and caught the accused red-handed accepting money from the decoy customers. We also rescued two women who are active in TV serials and Bangla cinema,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Madan Ballal of the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar Police.

A case has been registered against Das under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 143(3), which concerns human trafficking, and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, PITA. The rescued women have been sent to a shelter, the official said.

“A probe is underway to uncover the full extent of this crime and to identify if there are any other accomplices,” ACP Ballal added.