(COLOMBO) – Some 145 persons, the bulk of them women were arrested during a special police anti-vice operation carried out on a coastal town in Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Police spokesman Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nihal Thalduwa said on Thursday.
He said the operation targeted 53 the so-called spas, health clinics and wellness centres that operated as a front for glorified brothels in the tourist hot spot of Negombo situated some 37 kilometres north of the commercial capital of Colombo.
The suspects were subjected to medical tests and two females tested positive for HIV, according to DIG Thalduwa.
However critics pointed out that the raid in Negombo was purely a police ‘road show’ aimed at earning publicity when there are thousands of such massage clinics operating throughout the country with the full knowledge of the relevant authorities.
“These so-called spas presently operate from the up market seven star hotels in the Metropolis to guest houses in the suburbs and beyond.
These places have been in existence for the past four decades in the country and there is very little that the law enforcement agents could do since they operate with a license from the health authorities”, the critics said.
