Mumbai: PMLA Court Frames Charges Against Dance Bar Owner In 2013 Money Laundering Case Linked To Police Raid Rescuing 90 Girls

Mumbai: Seven years after filing a prosecution complaint against a dance bar owner, the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Thursday framed charges against him. The accused Raju Shetty’s dance bar was in controversy after a police raid, in which nearly 90 girls were rescued in May 2013.

The police had recovered Rs1.15 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs23.51 lakh in the raid. Shetty’s two co-owners, also accused in the case, are now deceased. They were identified as Jayram Shetty and Shobha Jayram Shetty.

As per the prosecution case, the Thane police had raided Kapal bar and Dimple lodge on the night of May 2, 2013 based on information by an NGO. The prosecution claimed that the girls were found “herded in the congested bar hall gesticulating sexually towards the customers with the intention to lure them for flesh trade”.

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The case was registered with Panvel police. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), too, began a probe into money laundering. The ED had filed a prosecution complaint in December 2018 against Shetty and his partners. The agency claimed that Shetty conducted the flesh trade under the garb of service bar.