Furious after their friend was duped by scamsters lurking on dating app, 10 youths hatch elaborate plan to take down gang, involving sending decoy on an expensive date at Sakinaka cafe, which ended with police raid and eight arrests
A Tinder profile picture of the woman with whom Pankaj Yadav went on a date on March 13. Pics/By Special Arrangement
Furious that their friend had been duped of Rs 15,000 by scammers lurking on Tinder, 10 youths put their heads together and created profiles on the popular dating app to trap the accused. One of them then went on a date with a woman linked to the gang as a decoy for the police, which culminated in a raid on the Heaven Terrace 72 Cafe in Sakinaka, Andheri East — carried out under the supervision of Datta Nalawade, DCP of Zone X — and arrests of eight people allegedly involved in the racket on March 13.
An exchange, where the woman suggested that Yadav meet her in Andheri East
Sting operation
>> Yadav was contacted by a woman named “Mahira” on Tinder first
>> After chatting on apps, she invited him to meet near the Sakinaka Metro station and then the cafe where his friend had allegedly been duped
>> During the meeting, the woman ordered about six tequila shots in 40 minutes. Upon checking, it was discovered that the billed amount was R18,616, Yadav then alerted DCP Nalawade
>> Acting on his signal, the Sakinaka police raided the cafe
The exorbitant bill racked up by the woman, who ordered six tequila shots in 40 minutes
Modus operandi, according to FIR
>> The gang allegedly created fake profiles of women on Tinder to lure unsuspecting men to a certain establishment
>> Victims were invited on dates to the same cafe in Sakinaka, Andheri East
>> Once inside, they were pressured to order expensive liquor and food
>> Later, they were forced to pay heavily inflated bills
(From left) Anmol Kamerkar, Nishikant Marchande, Nitin Zinjurte, Pankaj Yadav, Dinesh Jadhav, Abhishek Salgaokar, and Atun Mundaye, some of the friends who helped bust the alleged racket
Friends turned detectives
>> The scam came to light when Pankaj Yadav, 38, a textile businessman, decided to expose the racket after his friend was cheated a few months ago
>> Yadav said their group, an NGO, often collects funds to help poor patients get treatment, and they didn’t want others to fall prey to the scam
Heaven Terrace 72 Cafe staff are brought to heel during the raid. Pics/By Special Arrangement
Threats to victims
According to Yadav, victims who refused to pay were threatened by cafe staff and bouncers, who allegedly warned they would implicate them in false sexual assault cases, forcing many to pay and leave quietly
Case registered
A Tinder profile picture of the woman with whom Pankaj Yadav went on a date
Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 316(4), 308(2), 352, 3(5), and the Information Technology Act. Officials said two to three more suspects are still wanted, and further investigation is underway
The arrested accused
Mayur Subhash Didole
>> Mohsin Zayed Hussain Khan, 28
>> Mayank Gulchand Katuria, 20
>> Mayur Subhash Didole, 27
>> Jatin Arun Kumar, 22
>> Faizal Abdul Salam Ali, 27
>> Deepak Haripal Das, 26
>> Sahil Mahesh Kushwaha, 19
>> Rohit Vinod Kumar Sahu, 23
Investigators said the main accused is one Nitesh Ambaskar and believe several members of the gang came from Delhi and nearby regions
Message to the public
“We sought to create awareness about this racket so that no one else becomes a victim,” said Yadav. Advocate Rishabh Mishra said that one of his friends had also fallen victim to the racket. “On March 10, my friend matched with a woman on Tinder. She asked him to meet near Marol, later shared her contact details and location, and took him to the same club. Within 15-20 minutes, staff and bouncers forced him to pay around Rs 22,000,” Mishra said. He was preparing to file a complaint at the Sakinaka police station when he learned about the police raid
mid-day’s crusade
mid-day was the first to expose this scam. In a sting operation conducted by the newspaper in 2024, several clubs involved in such dating app frauds were uncovered. Following the revelations, Mumbai Police registered around four FIRs and cracked down on the racket, effectively dismantling the network. The scamsters had remained largely inactive for several months. However, in the past few months, the menace has resurfaced on a large scale in Mumbai, as well as in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira Road, and Pune
Police Speak
Datta Nalawade, DCP, Zone X
‘During the raid, which was carried out based on credible information, it was revealed that customers were lured to Heaven Terrace 72 Cafe through Tinder. At the cafe, the women were served soft drinks while the customers were served alcohol, and inflated bills of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 were generated. After the bill amount increased, the woman would leave on some pretext, and the cafe staff would forcibly recover the amount from the customer, sometimes threatening to inform their kin if payment was refused. It was also found that the said cafe was operating without a valid licence’
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