more-in In last two months the Special Branch of City Police raided two high-end spas and arrested six women from Thailand, who had come to the city on tourist visa and were employed by spa owners. While in the first raid four women were arrested in the last raid that took place about a week ago two were arrested. For the Special Branch this new development has thrown a new challenge. In the city there are about six to seven spas that claim to be offering special Thai-style massage. “We have to check whether all of them are employing women from Thailand on Tourist visas,” said ADCP (Special Branch) P.V. Ravi Kumar. According to him, the modus operandi is simple, the Spa owners visit Thailand, establish contact with someone there and bring women on tourist visas and make them work here, which is illegal as per Section 14 (B) and (C) of Foreigners Act- 1946. The arrested women are first sent to remand and then put under observation till a verdict is given and then deported back, he added. According to Mr. Ravi Kumar, the mushrooming of Thai massage spas has been the trend in the city and within two years about six high-end spas have come up. “The raids were conducted based on a tip off and we have increased our surveillance,” said Mr. Ravi Kumar. But the challenge for the special branch is not women from Thailand who come and work in Spas and beauty parlours on tourist visas, the worry is if there are others from other countries who are following the same pattern. “We have also expanded our area of surveillance and focussing on other areas also, especially the labour intensive sectors,” he said. Sumit Bhattacharjee

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