Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Jul 11: In a series of raids, mayor Kavita Sanil and her team of MCC officials on Tuesday July 11 cracked down on a spa, an ayurvedic centre and a unisex salon in different parts of the city.
The team led by the mayor first raided Olive Leaf Ayurvedic Therapy Centre at Bejai. Two girls were rescued from the centre.
Thereafter, the team headed to Jyothi to raid Paradise unisex beauty spa, but by the time they reached, the spa had already downed its shutters.
The team next raided Green Valley unisex salon near the Collector's Gate in Balmatta, followed by Royal Spa at Jyothi, which was found to be closed and Aroma spa.
Speaking to mediapersons, the mayor said, "I have taken up the task of raiding lllegal massage parlours and skill game centres. When I was in the health committee of the MCC too, I was particular about cracking down on such illegal activities.
"Former police commisisoner of Mangaluru Chandra Sekhar was a very good officer who had succeeded in controlling such activities. But now under the new police commissioner, they have cropped up once again. We received several complaints from the public about illegal massage parlours and skill game centres that are running without trade licence.
"As per court orders, only rummy, ludo and chess are allowed as recreation games. But other games are also being played illegally. Young boys are led in the wrong path and made to waste their parents' money," she said.
"In the name of ayurvedic centres, illegal massage parlours are running without licence. Men should be massaged by men massuers and women by women massuers. But that's not happening in these parlours," she added.
Criticising the police for not conducting raids on such places, she said, "Police are adept at catching those who break the signal or violate traffic laws, but they have failed to crack down on illegal businesses."
The mayor and her team also raided an illegal skill games centre at Jyothi, but the owner, a lady, remained adamant that she would not allow the MCC to close down the business. The owner claimed that she did not care for the MCC when the police themselves had allowed her centre to function.
"We have permission from the high court so we need not obtain permission from the MCC. The MCC does not have the right to raid us. We have particular timings here and also, ID cards are given to those who come here. To run a business like hotel, we need licence but we are running a games centre for which you do not need licence. We are running our centre as per the provisions in the high court's order," said the owner. She also produced a letter from the government and the high court order regarding the same.
The mayor then called the police to the spot. When the skill games centre was raided, several youths ran from the spot.
DCP Shantharaju and ACP Uday Nayak arrived at the games centre and said that the owner should obtain trade licence fromm the MCC, and that they would implement the orders of the MCC. They also denied the owner's claims that the police had allowed the skills games centre to function without licence.
Finally, as the lady owner refused to budge, ACP Shruthi was called to the spot, who made her leave and the skill games centre was forcibly shut.
A few days ago, the mayor had raided another skill games centre at Jyothi.