Actor Aarti Mittal aka Khwahish Matthew arrested for running a sex racket in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Model, casting director and actor Aarti Mittal also known as Khwahish Matthew was arrested in Mumbai for running a prostitution racket, the police said. The 27-year-old woman was nabbed by the Dindoshi Police in Mumbai’s western suburbs for allegedly running a sex and prostitution racket luring young women into the flesh trade.

The Social Service Branch of the Mumbai Police sent two dummy customers and rescued two models in the raid. The entire investigation was conducted by the Social Service Branch and a video of the incident was recorded as evidence.

The Social Service Branch of Mumbai Police apprehended her and rescued two models who were brought by her to meet the decoy customers. The rescued women have been sent to a rehabilitation centre for women.

The accused, Aarti Harishchandra Mittal, is a casting director for films and lives at Aradhana Apartments in Oshiwara. She has also worked in some soft porn films for OTT apps in 2019 under the stage name of Khwahish Matthew. The police said the accused targetted models whom she met during various projects by offering them good money to get into prostitution.

A Police Inspector Manoj Sutar received information that Aarti was running a prostitution racket. He formed a team and posed as a customer asking Aarti for two girls for his friends. Mittal demanded Rs 60,000 to arrange for the same.

As per reports, Aarti sent pictures of two women on Sutar’s phone and told him that the models would either come to Juhu or Goregaon-based star hotels. Sutar booked two rooms in Goregaon and sent two customers (cops in disguise). When Aarti arrived with the models, she also gave them condoms, all of which was recorded on spy cameras.

The SS Branch raided the hotel and caught the accused red-handed. They then imformed the Dindoshi police station and registered an FIR against Aarti Mittal. During interrogation, the models revealed, Aarti had promised them Rs 15,000 each.

A case has been registered against Mittal under Section 370, which deals with trafficking, of the IPC and other relevant sections.

Aarti Mittal has worked in the television show Apnapan. She had a while back posted on social media saying she is shooting for a film with R Madhavan. She had also tried to blackmail a producer cum actor in 2019, sources said.