Mumbai: Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) on Saturday arrested a woman Shiv Sena leader from Ulhasnagar for allegedly ran a sex racket.
The accused Shiv Sena leader, identified as Shobha Galmadu, was reportedly running a prostitution operations in Kalyan and neighboring areas for the past 2 years.
As per media reports, the accused drag underprivileged girls into prostitution, allegedly extorted Rs 5,000 from the girls and pay them only Rs 200 or Rs 500.
Acting on tip-off, police arrested Shobha Galmadu along with manager Suresh Shetty and driver Vinod Yadav of Durga Palace lodge. Police also recovered Rs 4,000 and seized Rs 59,000 from her house.
While speaking about the case, an official from the AHTC said, “We received a tip about Galmadu’s illegal business activities a few days ago. On Saturday, we were told that she had visited Durga Palace lodge with a client. We laid a trap early in the morning and arrested her while she was in possession of cash that she had received from her client. She was distributing money to girls and hotel workers at the time.”
All three accused were booked under Sections 370(2)(3) of the Indian Penal Code.
After Galmadu’s arrest, a statement from Sena city president Rajendra Chaudhari of Ulhasnagar has been issued claiming that Galmadu had been removed from the party a year ago.
Contrary to the statement, Galmadu was seen celebrating Chaudhari’s birthday by putting congratulations poster on June 1.