Nagpur: The Social Security Branch (SSB) of the Nagpur Crime Branch busted an alleged sex racket at Hotel Universe in Vihirgaon on Umred Road and rescued a woman during a raid on Wednesday evening.
Acting on a tip-off, an SSB team conducted a raid at Room No. 104 of Hotel Universe, under the jurisdiction of Hudkeshwar police station, between 6.20 pm and 10.50 pm on September 2, 2026.
During the raid, police allegedly found hotel owner Santosh Bachairam Sharma, 51, a resident of Parvati Nagar, Ajni, facilitating prostitution at the hotel for financial gain. According to police, Sharma allegedly provided the premises to customers for prostitution and lured the woman with the promise of earning more money in a short period.
The SSB team rescued one woman from the premises and arrested Sharma.
Police seized ₹3,000 in cash, a mobile phone, a DVR and other material, collectively valued at around ₹56,840.
A case has been registered against Sharma at Hudkeshwar Police Station under Section 143(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
The accused was handed over to Hudkeshwar police along with the seized material for further investigation.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajendra Dabhade, DCP (Detection) Deepak Agrawal and ACP (Crime Branch) Vaibhav Jadhav. The SSB team was led by PI Darshan Patil and API Shivaji Nanaware, along with other police personnel.
