Woman qawwali singer held for running sex racket in Thane

Thane: Police have arrested a 40-year-old woman qawwali singer from Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly running a flesh trade, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused, Roshni Bablu Sheikh, was held on February 26 in an operation conducted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police commissionerate, he said.

"The accused woman, a qawwali singer, operated the flesh trade in Mumbai's Santacruz, Andheri, Dahisar, Borivali and other areas. When the police received complaints about it, they laid a trap at a famous road-side eatery on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway at Kashimira and nabbed her. They rescued a female victim and also seized the cash involved in the deal," he said.

The rescued woman was shifted to a rehabilitation centre, he added.

Senior inspector Samir Ahirrao said an offence under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused woman.