Hyderabad, Sep 4 (Agency) : Task Force sleuths busted a prostitution racket involving an actress and arrested a pimp, who works as an assistant director in Tollywood, a senior police officer said.

The actress, who has been identified as national award winning actress Shweta Basu has revealed that she took to the sex trade as she was running out of money.

"Based on credible information, sleuths of Commissioner Task Force (West Zone) conducted a decoy operation at a hotel in Banjara Hills here last night and caught the actress and the organiser identified as Balu, who were allegedly involved in the flesh trade," Task Force Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police N Koti Reddy said.
Balu, a small-time assistant director in Tollywood, demanded Rs 1 lakh on behalf of the actress from a member of the decoy team.

He was given Rs 15,000, while the actress kept the remaining amount, the senior police officer said.
"The actress has been sent to rescue home, while Balu has been taken into custody under relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) Act," Reddy said.

The 23-year-old actress, who was arrested Sunday, is currently lodged in a state-run rescue home. She admitted she made wrong choices in her career.

"I was out of money. I had to support my family and some other good causes. All the doors were closed, and some people encouraged me to get into prostitution to earn money. I was helpless, and with no option left to choose, I got involved in this act," police sources quoted her as saying.

The actress, seen in films like "Makdee" and "Iqbal" also revealed that there were other actresses like her who went through this.

Shweta, who shot to fame as a child artiste in Ekta Kapoor's television serial "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki", bagged the national award for best child artist for "Makdee" in 2002.

The actress, who also did a few films in Bengali, Tamil and Telugu, was arrested from a hotel Sunday night along with the sex racket's organiser Anjaneyulu alias Balu.

The next day, a court here sent her to a rescue home run by the women and child welfare department.

She underwent a medical examination at a government hospital before she was sent to the rescue home, where women rescued by police and those facing trial are given shelter during the trial period.

The inmates are provided with free food, clothing, medical care and also vocational training. She is likely to stay in the rescue home for three months.