Seven men were arrested from three spas in Salt Lake in northeast Kolkata for their alleged involvement in a sleaze racket.
A team from the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s detective department raided a house in Salt Lake’s BA Block from where the three spas were operating, a senior officer said.
The police identified the three spas as Dhruva Day, The Cora Wellness SPA and REX Thai SPA, which were all housed in the same building.
“We raided the building and arrested seven men, including three customers. Nine women have been rescued,” said another senior officer.
All those arrested have been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and various sections of the Immoral Trafficking Act.
“These would advertise massage services on various social media platforms and had dedicated groups on messaging apps. We are trying to get hold of the racket’s kingpin,” said the officer.
Massage parlours and spas have mushroomed across Salt Lake. Many of them function as sleaze dens, the police said.
According to records, most of the women who are trafficked and forced into prostitution are either misguided by their own family members or cheated by friends.