46 cases registered as police crackdown on illegal spa centres in Malkajgiri

A special drive by the Malkajgiri police led to 46 cases against spa centre owners for regulatory violations. Officials allege illegal operators exploit jurisdictional gaps across Hyderabad's four commissionerates, shifting locations to evade crackdowns and continue unlawful activities.

Hyderabad: Lack of a coordinated strategy to address organised crime across the four commissionerates—Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Malkajgiri, and Future City—is enabling criminal syndicates to shift jurisdictions and operate with ease, a few police officials feel.

The Malkajgiri commissionerate police last week conducted a special drive and checked 113 spa centres operating in all four zones and registered 46 criminal cases against owners for violations of the regulations.

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To their dismay, the police found several of the spa centres were illegally established without obtaining the required permissions and approvals. The police also found that the establishments had constructed concealed rooms without transparent glass doors, a violation of prescribed safety norms. Four spa centres were found organising prostitution in the premises under the garb of body massage.

An official of the Malkajgiri commissionerate police said that whenever the police tighten the screw, the organisers shift their activities to Hyderabad or Cyberabad commissionerates.

“The issue can be addressed if a coordinated effort is made to tackle the issue. Youngsters are getting corrupted due to the illegal activities at spa centres, a few of which are functioning from residential buildings. We also have information that employees at some spa centres are addicted to cannabis and locally available drugs,” said an official.

It was the first time that Malkajgiri police conducted a special drive on such a high level against spa centres and stated that special drives would continue in future too.

“After the special drive, we got information that the spa centre owners who are into immoral businesses under garb of massage are planning to shift operations and move away from Malkajgiri,” said another official.

According to an insider, the spa centres are exploiting the loopholes in the police functioning and setting up their business across all the four commissionerates. “In case the police in one commissionerate start a crackdown, they will wind up their business and move to another area. This way, they keep their business running without any interruption,” the person said on condition of anonymity.