Priyanka Chopra owns the floor where spa ran sex racket

Police have confirmed that a spa in Versova, which was raided earlier this month, is housed inside a property that belongs to Priyanka Chopra

Sonali Joshi Pitale

- Sources said the actor was not aware of this and trusted the owners

- While spa manager was arrested and three women rescued, spa owner is on the run

After the police raided a spa in Versova earlier this month for fronting a flesh trade racket, this paper has learnt that the premises actually belong to actor Priyanka Chopra.

Chopra has apparently given out the property on rent.

A source said, "This property belongs to Priyanka Chopra and her mother's clinic is situated just next to this place. The entire floor (measuring 3,000 sq ft) belongs to Chopra. In the beginning of this month, the police had raided this place after they got to know that it was being used for sex trade." The manager, Dinesh Chandrakant, was arrested and three adult females were rescued, while the owner Manik Soni is absconding.

On November 7, the Versova police received a tipoff that Charisma Spa and Beauty Centre in Vastu Precinct building in Shastri Nagar was covertly involved in flesh trade. Based on the information a decoy was sent to the premises to verify the information.

After the pretend customer confirmed the details, he alerted the cops, following which a team of policemen barged into the spa, arrested Chandrakant and rescued three women. The women have been sent to a rehabilitation centre.

Confirming the report that the actor owns the spa, the investigating officer of the case said, "We are searching for Soni who is still at large. Once he is arrested we would get to know the details of the agreement between him and the actor."

Spa launch

Cops said the actor and her mother Madhu had visited the premises. In fact, Madhu and her son Siddharth had also attended the launch of the spa.

Another source said, "Priyanka has many commitments at hand and this property which she had rented out has become another trouble. She is a bit hassled at the moment regarding this. She was not aware of the fact and trusted the owners. She may take a decision on whether to continue with the lease or not."

When contacted, the spa receptionist confirmed that the property belongs to the actor and the spa owners had taken it on a rental basis.

A police source said, "The owner of the spa, Manik Soni, is on the run. He was a regular at many Bollywood parties and knows many television and film personalities. The investigation is on, and once the accused is arrested we will verify the agreement and then take action."

Priyanka Chopra was unavailable for comment.