MUMBAI: What began as an online friendship spiralled into a two-year ordeal for a 70-year-old businessman from Worli, who was allegedly coerced into paying ₹2.40 crore to a gang of seven women and four men, who allegedly posed as police officers, relatives of public figures and intermediaries, and threatened criminal action.
Police officers said the senior citizen was so pressured by the gang that he left India and lived in Zambia for five months in an attempt to escape the harassment, but the calls and demands followed him even there.
According to the Worli police, the alleged fraud began in January 2024 with a woman identified as Alia, whom the complainant had been chatting with on social media for a few years. “He had shared all his personal details with Alia, including the fact that he stays alone in his bungalow at Worli and that he was in the polymer export business, and that both his brothers were settled in the US,” said a police officer.
During one of their conversations, Alia allegedly offered to introduce the complainant to a woman who would spend time with him and help him cope with loneliness. In January 2024, she sent two women, identified as Shruti and Yasmin, and the complainant reluctantly went out with them for dinner at a high-end restaurant, the officer said.
At their next meeting, the women introduced him to a certain Rubina, who told him she was a police officer at the Bandra police station. She allegedly told him that Alia ran a prostitution racket, and he would have to come to the police station in connection with a case involving her. The senior citizen refused to oblige her, the officer said.
The following day, a man identifying himself as Roshan allegedly called the complainant, claiming that Shruti and Yasmin had filed a complaint accusing him of having sex with them without payment. To settle the matter and avoid police action, the women were demanding ₹8.25 lakh, Roshan allegedly told him. Fearful of legal trouble, the complainant paid the amount, police said.
The trouble, however, did not stop there. The next day, another woman, Hina, called him, claiming that her husband, Farukh, was an officer in the Mumbai police’s crime branch. She allegedly said the crime branch was monitoring his movements because of his “illicit relationship” with the women, and offered to settle the matter for ₹12 lakh, which he paid.
Roshan later contacted the complainant again and asked him to pay ₹22 lakh, saying that the three girls’ family members had come to know about the alleged sexual assault. Roshan added that a judicial officer from Thane had also gotten involved, so the demand for settling the matter was higher. Believing the matter would finally be resolved, the senior citizen transferred the money, police said.
However, new callers continued to surface. A woman claiming to be the sister of an MLA from Mira Road called him and allegedly demanded ₹3 lakh more as a one-time settlement for sexually exploiting women.
“Tired of the severe pressure exerted by the gang and continuous threats extended by them, the senior citizen went to Zambia in Africa and stayed there for around five months,” said the police officer. “There also, he got a WhatsApp call from a person who identified himself as Roshan’s boss, who told him that Alia was tired and ready for a one-time settlement. He asked him to transfer ₹18 lakh online to end the entire episode.”
A few days later, Roshan called the complainant again and told him that Shruti and Rubina had left for their native places, which was good for him. However, he sought an additional ₹17 lakh, saying they had started their own clothing business there and needed the money to pay a deposit to open the shop.
The complainant later received calls claiming that Yasmin had contracted HIV and died, leaving behind a daughter who was too young to take care of herself. Before that, a man posing as Yasmin’s doctor had also allegedly taken money from him for her treatment, police said.
“Later, to protect the senior citizen from the girl’s family members and to prevent the girls from approaching the media, and citing other reasons such as a red alert against him and restrictions on travelling out of Mumbai, they continued to extort money from him,” said the police officer.
From January 2024 to February 2026, the gang extorted a total of ₹2.40 crore from the businessman in cash and via online transactions. The 70-year-old approached the police after the gang demanded an additional ₹1.60 crore and sent him a payment schedule along with the names of recipients.
The police said the complainant had blocked their numbers, but they continued to call and send him messages from new numbers. Matters escalated when Alia allegedly visited his residence in his absence, threatened his staff and created a ruckus, leaving him “extremely scared”. He eventually approached the police as the gang members started making continuous calls to him from January 28, 2026.
An FIR has been registered at the Worli police station under sections 204 (personating a public servant), 308 (extortion), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. An investigation is underway.