Pune:
The social security cell (SSC) of Pune police have arrested 52-year-Marathi actress of yesteryears for her involvement in a prostitution racket run at a row house in Orchid Palace society on NIBM road, Kondhwa.
The actress was identified as Padmaja Vishwanath Bapat has been booked under several sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, along with two other women aged 28 and 30 who have been arrested in the case.
According to police, Bapat, a Marathi theatre actress was running the racket from her bungalow on NIBM Road in Kondhwa. Police officials say that the actor was running the racket since the past four years and charged Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 from her customers.
Senior police inspector with SSC, Bhanupratap Barge said, "Our police constable Ashok Takalkar received a tip off about the racket, following which we sent a decoy customer and later barged into her row house to find two more women involved in the crime."
Barge added that Bapat, a native of Kolhapur, had been involved in the racket for years, she shifted to Pune in 2004 after she got separated from her husband. "She has worked in several Marathi plays and has also tired her luck in a couple of Marathi movies," Barge said.