Day after report, Chandigarh calls for formulating rules to monitor spas, massage centres
At least 25 people — 21 men and four women — have so far been arrested, with at least 40 women, who were reportedly hired to provide escort services to customers, being rescued from these centres.
3 min read
Chandigarh calls for formulating rules to monitor spas, massage centres. (Representational image via Canva) A day after The Indian Express highlighted how flesh trade rackets operating under the garb of massage and spa centres had become a menace in Chandigarh, the UT administration on Thursday sprung into action and directed that a set of regulations be formed for monitoring such centres.
A Chandigarh administration spokesman said, “Home Secretary, Nitin Kumar Yadav, has directed the Deputy Commissioner, Chandigarh, Vinay Pratap Singh, and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kanwardeep Kaur, to study the guidelines and rules in place in other states and Union Territories with regard to the registration and operation of spa centres. They have also been asked to moot draft guidelines and rules for the same within one month’s time, which will then be sent to the Chandigarh Administration for approval.”
In the news report published in the edition dated September 21, 2023 (Thursday) — titled ‘Flesh trade rackets operating out of spa centres thrive; no rules to register them’ — The Indian Express had highlighted how at least nine flesh trade rackets — being operated under the garb of spas and massage centres —have been busted in the last seven months in the city, leading to alarm bells ringing among the security establishment of Chandigarh.
At least 25 people — 21 men and four women — have so far been arrested, with at least 40 women, who were reportedly hired to provide escort services to customers, being rescued from these centres. The rescued women were found to be hailing from the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and those in the Northeast.
Police officers maintained that during the course of their investigations in all the cases they have found that there was no guidelines on the part of Chandigarh administration making it mandatory for the owners of such spa centres to register themselves or take permission to run these centres.
A source in the police had said,”The investigations revealed that properties owners, who rented their showrooms, shops etc to the spa operators, only informed the administration under The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1958, about commercial activities being carried out from their properties. They never mentioned the nature of such commercial activities. We have also not come across any policy which specifies that spa centres need to be registered with the administration, quite unlike nightclubs, bars, restaurants, which require permission from authorities to operate.”
On Thursday, the Chandigarh administration spokesperson stated that recently, after observing that cases under the Immoral Trafficking Act were rising in Chandigarh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also suggested that authorities contemplate formulating guidelines for the operation of spa/massage centers, similar to those framed by the Delhi government.
You May Like
