Flesh trade racket at police officer-turned-BJP MP 's flat busted

June 2, 2014

Mumbai, May 2: Having rescued two women and arrested a pimp from a posh building in Versova, officials of the Social Service (SS) Branch of the Mumbai Police were shocked to find that the property that they had raided with success was owned by none other than former city police commissioner and incumbent BJP MP Dr Satypal Singh.

The SS Branch has handed the case to Versova police station for further scrutiny. The police revealed that they had received a tip-off on Saturday night, after which they raided the tenth floor of Patliputra building near Kokilaben Hospital, in Andheri.

“Working on the basis of information that we received, we raided the guesthouse and arrested Vakil Raju Shah, its caretaker,” said Mahesh Patil, deputy commissioner of the SS Branch. The SS Branch officers laid a trap, posing as customers and asking for the service of prostitutes. Once the accused fell for their ruse, they swooped in and raided the guesthouse.

“We have handed the case over to Versova police for further investigations, and booked Shah under sections 3,4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,” said Patil. The Versova police have summoned officials from Shah 's tenant, and are likely to visit the former commissioner to check his rent agreement.

This is not the first time that a property owned by a senior police official in the city has been exposed as a den for a sex racket. Erstwhile DCP Nandkumar Chougule 's bungalow, which he had rented out to a spa, was home to a flourishing sex spa ' in 2011. Chougule was later suspended.

After receiving a tip-off on Saturday night, officials of the Social Service Branch raided the tenth floor of Patliputra building near Kokilaben Hospital, in Andheri.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

Comments