A joint raid on 18 wellness centres operating inside a Gurugram mall has led to the rescue of 30 women, including three minors, after police and the Haryana State Commission for Women found prima facie evidence of illegal sex work at eight centres, officials said on Saturday.
The six-hour operation began at 10 pm on Friday and continued until 3 am on Saturday. Nearly 100 police personnel, including inspectors and sub-inspectors, worked with teams led by Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Usha Priyadarshi and an executive duty magistrate. The teams cordoned off floors of the commercial complex and conducted simultaneous inspections.
The operation followed about 100 complaints from people working in the mall, including doctors, who had raised concerns about alleged illicit activities being conducted under the guise of wellness parlours. Priyadarshi told The Indian Express that complainants had also flagged safety concerns for young women and families visiting the mall.
According to Gurugram Police, 20 men found operating the centres were rounded up and are being questioned. Electronic and documentary material was impounded during the searches. Police said recovered material included contraceptives, petrol and digital video recorders, which they said indicated that illicit commercial activities were being conducted behind the façade of massage parlours.
Abhilaksh Joshi, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Headquarters-I) and the designated Special Police Officer under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, said the rescued women were being treated as victims under anti-trafficking protocols. “The women are considered victims in such cases; we do not arrest them,” Joshi said. He added that police were recording their background details to map the recruitment chain.
Priyadarshi said preliminary questioning indicated that some of the women and girls came from rural areas and alleged that they had been coerced into the trade. Others reportedly said they were facing extreme financial distress. These accounts remain part of the preliminary inquiry, while police investigate the broader recruitment and operating network.
The commission chairperson said the interiors of the centres did not resemble standard wellness parlours. She said each centre contained three or four partitioned rooms rented by the hour, and that alcohol, beedis, cigarettes and petrol canisters were found on the premises.
The raid also places attention on how commercial complexes monitor businesses operating within their premises. The complaints came from people working in the mall, rather than from a routine inspection announced by the authorities. Priyadarshi said the commission conducted reconnaissance over two days before coordinating the operation with police.
Formal criminal proceedings and further investigation have now been transferred to Kherki Daula police station. Police said the investigation would focus on identifying alleged kingpins and examining the role of property leaseholders. The authorities have not announced the names of the mall, the centres or the individuals questioned.
