Woman held in Wardha for running prostitution racket in police raid

Wardha police's anti-human trafficking unit received a tip-off at its office on September 24, 2026. The informant said a woman living in Wardha, whose full name was not known, was luring girls into prostitution with money. She would call girls to a flat in Saloda (Hirapur), under Sawangi (Meghe) police station, Wardha district, and supply them to clients, running the trade from there.

Vinod Chaudhary, head of the Local Crime Branch, Wardha, passed on the information to Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Agrawal. On the SP's instructions, the team discreetly set up a decoy customer, or "panter". Acting on a signal from the decoy, a team from the anti-human trafficking unit and the Local Crime Branch, Wardha, carried out the raid.

The police team reached flat number 103 on the first floor of B wing of a building in the Takshak City area, Saloda (Hirapur), Wardha. The flat was in the accused woman's possession. During the raid, the accused, identified as Pratibha Sameer Kawade, 40, a resident of Dhande's house near the gas godown in Sindi (Meghe), Wardha, was found there. A search of the flat found the decoy customer and a victim woman engaged in prostitution in one room.

During questioning, the victim said she was from Wardha and that the accused, Pratibha Sameer Kawade, had lured her into prostitution with money. Police recovered two Android mobile phones, 2,900 rupees in cash and items used in prostitution from the accused. The total value of the seized material was estimated at around 37,900 rupees.

A case has been registered against the accused at Sawangi (Meghe) police station, Wardha district, under section 143(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 along with sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The victim has been admitted to the Mahila Sakhi One Stop Centre run by the Women and Child Development Department, Wardha.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Agrawal and Additional Superintendent of Police Sadashiv Waghmare. The team included Local Crime Branch Police Inspector Vinod Chaudhary, Assistant Police Inspector Ashishsingh Thakur, and police personnel Divakar Parimal, Amar Lakhe, Sanjaysingh Suryavanshi, Chandrakant Burange, Sanjay Rathod, Nitesh Meshram, Shabana Shaikh, Navnath Munde, Mangesh Chavare and Gajanan Darne, all posted with the anti-human trafficking cell and Local Crime Branch, Wardha.