5 held for extorting money from spa owner in Kharadi

Pune: The Kharadi police on Friday arrested three men and two women from Yerawada for allegedly extorting money from a massage parlour owner by threatening to implicate her in a false prostitution case. The incident took place at a massage parlour operating from a commercial building in Kharadi on Wednesday night. A 36-year-old woman lodged a complaint on Thursday.

An officer from the Kharadi Police said the complainant, originally from Sikkim, had been running the parlour in the area for the past six months. On Wednesday night, one man entered the parlour posing as a customer and started inquiring about different therapies. Soon after, two more men and two women entered the premises and accused the complainant of operating a sex racket under the guise of a massage parlour.

The complainant denied any involvement in illegal activities, but the accused allegedly threatened to take her to the police station. “The accused initially demanded Rs 3 lakh and later agreed to accept Rs 2 lakh to avoid inconvenience to the complainant,” the officer said.

Police said the woman did not have enough money in her account, following which her daughter transferred Rs 50,000 to her. She also contacted two friends for help. “When her friends arrived, one of the accused women slapped the complainant repeatedly for calling others there,” the officer said.

The officer said one of the complainant’s friends later persuaded the accused to settle for Rs 1.5 lakh. The woman transferred Rs 30,000 through UPI to one of the accused, who allegedly asked her to pay the remaining amount over the next two days before leaving.

The terrified woman approached the police on Thursday. A case was registered under sections 308 (extortion), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “Investigations are on,” the officer said.