Mumbai:
In a major breakthrough, a 25-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for luring a woman to Mumbai from Kolkata on the pretext of getting her into Bollywood and then forcing her into prostitution six years ago.
The Versova police launched a massive manhunt for Jugal Singh after MiD DAY broke the news on May 11 and an FIR was subsequently lodged on Friday. Singh was nabbed from Seven Bungalows, where he had been hiding for the past few days.
Singh has been charged with abetting prostitution, wrongful confinement, practising slavery, criminal breach of trust, unlawful labour and assault.
"We arrested Singh on Saturday and he has been remanded in police custody till Monday. Singh was a pimp and was running a prostitution racket in Kolkata and Mumbai," said senior inspector Suresh Nalawade of the Versova police station.
Nalawade however, refuted claims made by the victim that she was raped by Singh. "The accused married her five years ago," he said.
"While the police claim that Bose was married, there is not a single document or photograph to prove it," said Sundari Thakur, who works for an NGO fighting for the cause of abused women.