Human trafficking rackets use spas, tele-callers to lure clients in Hyderabad

Even with special police units, illegal spa and massage centres linked to prostitution continue to grow in Hyderabad. Tele-callers lure customers daily, sex workers are employed at many centres, and several operate inside residential apartments, causing discomfort and concern among local families

Hyderabad: Despite the Telangana police establishing special units to curb human trafficking and prostitution, the illicit activity continues to flourish in and around the city under different modus operandi.

One of the common modus operandi is the ‘spa and body massage parlour’ operating unhindered in the commercial and residential areas of the city in a more organised manner, drawing ire from the citizens.

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While earlier the organisers used to reach out to customers through free advertisement portals and papers, the managers are now employing tele-callers, sending messages, and directly calling them over phone, to lure customers.

Each tele-caller is asked to call at least 50 numbers daily. The data of phone numbers is collected from different sources and handed over to the tele-callers, who are educated girls, accommodated in a room in the centre. “Daily we have to lure at least four clients to the centre, we are paid a salary of Rs 20,000 a month,” says a woman working at one such facility at Banjara Hills.

It is no secret that the body massage centres operating in Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Madhapur, Somajiguda, Ameerpet, Kondapur, Gachibowli and other locations employ sex workers on a commission basis. While the license and other required permissions are obtained by claiming the centre to be a health facility.

“There is only a handful of spas and massage centres in the city that employ masseurs who are trained in healthcare institutes. At a majority of the centres, sex workers are employed,” says Nitish (name changed), who operates a massage parlour at Somajiguda.

Of late, these centres have come up in residential apartments and have become a cause of inconvenience for the families. A case in point is the multiple apartments located in the neighbourhood abutting Road number 10, Banjara Hills, where such illegal practices continue without any hindrance.

“Men frequent the place often and stalk the women residing in the building. I think the police are aware of it, but they do not take any action,” complained a local woman resident. Ironically, half a dozen such centres function in multiple residential areas on the Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, persons familiar with the business said.