Cops bust ‘friendship club’,arrest owner

The Mumbai Police Commissioner’s special squad busted an illegal ‘friendship club’ in Andheri on Monday and arrested its owner. Prasad Patkar (42),the owner,allegedly ran a prostitution racket in the guise of a friendship club that he operated on the ground floor of a building near Navrang Cinema on JP Road in Andheri (west).

According to Rakesh Sharma,senior police inspector of the special squad,they had been receiving complaints from people who claimed Patkar had cheated them of lakhs of rupees by luring them into meeting and dating models through the club. The police on Monday searched the premises of the club and found more than 200 portfolios of small time models,21 mobile phones,laptops,television sets and several PAN cards along with cheque books,credit cards of various banks,etc.

The accused had been running this club for the past three years.

Sharma said the modus operandi was to first place advertisements in local newspapers about the club. Patkar had employed a receptionist at the ‘office’ who used to receive calls about memberships. She lured the customers into paying Rs 6,000 as membership fee. After becoming members,the customers were shown photos of various models who they could date. After selecting a woman,the customer was asked to shell out Rs 5,000 more. He was then given contact details of the model,who demanded fees ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000.

Sharma said,“Based on the complaints,we had been tracing Patkar. On Monday,we arrested him for cheating and running a prostitution racket.”