Pune Beat

Flesh racket busted, three girls rescuedThe crime branch on Wednesday busted a three-member prostitution racket. It used to operate from ...

Flesh racket busted, three girls rescued
The crime branch on Wednesday busted a three-member prostitution racket. It used to operate from a hotel-cum-lodge on Pune-Satara road with the help of a cellular phone. Three women, allegedly induced to prostitution by the racketeers, were rescued.

Those arrested include Shashikant Ishwarlal Rana (43) of Tingare Nagar, Kalyani Umesh Deshpande (29) of Paud Road and manager of the hotel-cum-lodge Shailash Lucas Masiah (27).

Preliminary investigations revealed that Rana and Deshpande induced the the girls to prostitution, inspector Bharati Kurade said. One girl hails from Ahemadabad and the other two from Calcutta and Hubli.

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6-seater autos get stay order
The State Transport Appeal Tribunal (STAT) on Thursday issued a stay on the ban imposed on six-seater rickshaws within city limits by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA).

Shankar Hari Tadakhe, who was issued a notice by the RTA, had filed a petition with the STAT in Mumbai. STAT, after hearing the arguments, issued a stay order against the ban notice. The RTA has issued notice to about 4,500 six seater rickshawmen in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Bank staffers go for a walk
Banking activities ground to a halt on Thursday as bank employees joined the two-day nation-wide strike call given by their central unions.

Bank officers and employees gathered in front of Bank of Maharashtra, Bajirao Road in large numbers and held demonstrations for over an hour. They took out a procession, led by leaders of unions, to State Bank of India, Deccan Gymkhana. At a rally held opposite State Bank of India, Prakash Patki called upon the bank employees to be prepared for the indefinite strike from March 17.