Flesh trade flourishes in Ahmedabad, brothels check into hotels

Be it a hotel in the city or one near a highway, the incident on Sunday where a brothel was busted at Ambika guest house in Gomtipur and the recent prostitution racket busted in the Skyway hotel in Sola reveals how flesh trade is flourishing in city hotels.

City-based pimps use hotels for arranging their customers' stay for a few hours. What's more, all this is carried out with the help of police officials.

Usually, the managers or owners of the hotel are required to pay around Rs10,000 to Rs25,000 to the police station where the hotels are situated if they want to continue allowing the pimps to use the hotel by their clients. "The rate changes as per the area and the flow of customers in the hotel or the hotel room," said a pimp, on condition of anonymity.

For instance, a client using a hotel room at SG Highway area will have to pay more than a couple using a hotel room in Naroda, Bapunagar, Lal Darwaja or Kalupur area. However, the money paid by the hotels to the police depends on the flow of prostitutes to the area. "The hotels where the flow of prostitutes is more will have to shell out extra money as bribe to the police," Patel told DNA. The rates differ for the hotels; an average hotel will have to pay somewhere between Rs5,000 and Rs15,000 to the police.