KALYN: Thane Police have arrested the alleged mastermind of an organised prostitution racket operating outside Kalyan railway station after a four-day undercover operation in West Bengal, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight. The case is the first in Thane district in which the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has been invoked against an organised prostitution syndicate. Police said the alleged kingpin, Toufiq alias Topiya Sayyed, and his associate, Meeta Narayan Barik, were arrested in the Diamond Harbour area of South 24 Parganas district. Investigators said the duo had taken shelter in a sensitive riverside locality, prompting the police team to remain undercover for four days before carrying out the arrests. Another accused, Prashant Gaikwad alias Kauwa, was arrested in Solapur, Maharashtra. All three were flown to Mumbai on Tuesday and produced before a Kalyan court, which remanded them in police custody. Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Honmane, the investigating officer, said the racket came to light during the investigation into a case registered at Mahatma Phule police station in February this year. The investigation revealed that the gang allegedly brought women from Mumbai’s Kamathipura and forced or lured them into prostitution near Kalyan railway station. During the initial crackdown, police rescued 20 women and arrested six women accused of running the racket. One woman was later released after no evidence of her involvement was found. Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Zende said the arrest of Prashant Gaikwad helped investigators trace the alleged masterminds to West Bengal. He said MCOCA was invoked after investigators established that the accused were operating an organised criminal syndicate. So far, eight accused, including three men and five women, have been arrested, while police continue to investigate the gang’s financial network and possible interstate links.
