A 17-year-old girl, who was pushed into prostitution, was rescued and sent to the welfare home. (Representational image)

Mumbai: The antihuman trafficking unit (AHTU) of the Thane (rural) police busted a prostitution racket that was operating from a lodge in Kashimira. While the manager and waiter of the lodge were arrested, the police team rescued a 17-year-old girl.

Acting on a tip-off from members of an NGO, Transforming Lives Foundation, the AHTU team along with their Kashimira counterparts sent a decoy customer to Hotel Divya Palace, located on the service road of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway. After confirmation, the team swooped down on the lodge and apprehended  the manager Suryakant Poojary and waiter Jaidev Jena.

A 17-year-old girl, who was pushed into prostitution, was rescued and sent to the welfare home.  However, the owner and operator, the actual beneficiaries of the illegal act-ivities are still at large.

A case under section 370 (exploitation of a trafficked person), sections 3,4,5 of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act  and relevant sections of the Prevention of Child-ren from Sexual Offences Act, 2012  has been registered against the duo who have been remanded in police custody.