19 held in raids on spa and massage centres in Hyderabad

In a special operation conducted by the Madhapur, Raidurgam and the Gachibowli police, 19 organisers and helpers were arrested on Sunday on charges of human trafficking and operating a flesh trade racket under the guise of running spa and massage parlours.

The operation was carried out by the team based on a tip-off.

During the raids, police found that the organisers were cheating innocent victims, including women from Thailand and north eastern parts of the country, by bringing them here on the pretext of providing them jobs and then involving them for cross-gender massages. Clients were being offered packages which were priced between Rs.9,000 and Rs.1 lakh, the police said.

According to the police, the prime suspect arrested was identified as Dasari Siddartha (32), a resident of Banjara Hills who was said to be operating a chain of spas that included three in Madhapur area, four in Jubilee Hills and one in



Bengaluru.

Apart from Siddhartha, the police also arrested his accomplices and among them three were identified as Sarfaraz Ali, Vinay and Ajay. Siddhartha appointed women at the massage centres with contacts he had established with a woman from Mumbai.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madhapur, Vishwa Prasad said Sidhartha came into contact with one woman, named Kake, and through her he recruited foreign women as masseuses at the parlours. “As many as 34 Thai nationals were recruited, besides 21 from north eastern States, nine from the city and one from Punjab,” the DCP said, adding that most of them were teenagers.

Police seized incriminating material including laptops and desktops, digital video recorders, 11 swiping machines, 28 mobile phones, 27 registered bill books and Rs 3.38 lakh in cash. A case had been registered under Sections 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Sec 370 (A) and 370 (A) (2) of Indian Penal Code.