A prostitution racket allegedly being run from a flat here owned by former Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh, now a BJP Member of Parliament, has been busted and the apartment’s caretaker arrested.
Two young women were rescued from the flat in suburban Andheri, which was raided on Saturday, police said.
The flat had been leased out to a well-known business house for 33 months and Singh said he is taking legal action against the private company for breach of contract.
“I am sending a legal notice to the company for breach of contract. I have not been to this flat for over four years,” the newly-elected Lok Sabha MP from Baghpat in Western Uttar Pradesh said.
Acting on a tip-off, Social Service Branch sent a decoy customer to the 10th floor apartment in Patliputra Housing Society on Saturday night. Once it was confirmed flesh trade is being run from there, police raided the house.
Two women – aged 20 and 22 – were rescued and one Vakil Raju Shah, appointed as the flat’s caretaker by the firm and the alleged kignpin of the racket, was arrested, they said, adding Rs 4,000 was also seized from the premises.
An FIR was registered against Shah under relevant sections of Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act. He was produced before a local court, which sent him in police custody till June 3, said Harishchandra Parmale, Senior Inspector at Versova Police Station.
Singh, who quit as Mumbai Police Commissioner early this year to enter politics, said, “Leasing out the flat is my only fault. I never thought the flat would be used for any such activities. I am taking legal action against the company. The lease will be over in September.”
An officer probing the case said the flat was being used as a guesthouse by the company and most of the time it remained vacant.
“Shah cashed on this opportunity and used it for such illegal activities. We are trying to ascertain since when Shah had been into such activities,” the officer added.
