Spas doubling as brothels give city a bad name

Mysuru: The arrest of six tourists from Kerala and one from Bihar following a raid in a spa has also raised concerns as to whether the city has become a haven for flesh trade.
Recently, the police arrested seven persons and rescued three women from prostitution ring.
An officer said that more or less it looked like a racket of flesh trade and the operator of the spa – Manu Philip (30)—hails from Kerala. The arrested customers too were from Kerala. Since Mysuru is the connecting city between Kerala and Bengaluru, most tourists from the neighbouring state takes a break in Mysuru before proceeding further.
The manager of ‘ayur touch,’ a purported spa operating from the fourth floor of Samudra Hotel on Mysuru- Bengaluru road, had literally been converted into a brothel offering ‘massage service’ to its customers by young women. An online platform provides information about the spa besides the information being spread by word of mouth.
The spa was opened some nine months back. The police officers claimed that keeping an eye on the activity in such places is difficult since there are directions from courts that unless there are visible evidence about illegal trade at a place, action should not be taken against owners or the managers.
“The police do not get information about such spas, clubs or gaming shops as Mysuru City Corporation doesn’t provide any information about their activities or ask the owners to take NOC from police. This keeps us in dark. Even CCTVs are not mandatory in such spas,” a police officer said.
The responsibility of checking such illegal activities also lies with license giver – MCC—and not just with police.
The arrested were Mridul (27), Sudheer (46), Prajesh (41), Sajith (42), Pradeep (42) and Rijesh (36), all from Kerala. . Danishkar from Bihar too was arrested, according to Lashkar police, who also seized Rs 15,000 in cash.