13 women freed in raid on Amrai Resort in Pune's Bhor; one held, main accused on the run

Rajgad police have freed 13 women from an alleged prostitution racket operating out of Amrai Resort at Velu in Bhor taluka of Pune district. One man has been arrested, while the person believed to be the kingpin has fled and is being hunted.

The raid was carried out on October 22, at about 6.30 pm. Officers had been told that women were being pushed into the sex trade at the resort, and that this had gone on for roughly two months. The accused, Raghu Shetty, was said to be tempting women with money and then forcing them into prostitution on the premises.

Before moving in, police checked the tip by sending a decoy customer to the resort. Once the information was confirmed, a team raided the property and combed the whole premises. Police said customers were charged Rs 1,000 per woman.

The women who were rescued come from Mumbai, Thane, Delhi, West Bengal and Karnataka.

A case has been registered at Rajgad police station against two men, named as Raghu Shetty and Vaibhav Balaji Ingale (the name is spelt Ingle in some accounts). Only one of the two has been taken into custody. Police believe the man who got away is the alleged mastermind of the operation.

Questions are now being raised about who owns the resort and who was running it. There is talk in the area that the property belongs to an office-bearer of a political party, who is said to have handed it to another man to manage. Police have not confirmed this. They say the inquiry into the name in which the resort is registered is going on alongside the rest of the probe.

Investigators have also started examining the resort's financial transactions and the way the women were brought there. They are trying to establish how the 13 women were drawn in, whether money was used to lure them, and who else had a hand in the racket. The role of the resort's management is under scrutiny, and police are checking whether others, along with the management, were involved or allowed the premises to be misused. The identity of the owner and of any further accused will become clear only once the investigation is complete.

The raid has caused a stir in Velu and the surrounding area.