What began as a BJP MLA’s complaint about a threatening woman trying to extort him ended in a startling twist – the ‘woman’ was actually a 26-year-old unemployed man from Kolhapur with an unusual talent: mimicking female voices.
Shivaji Patil, the 55-year-old BJP MLA from Chandgad, had approached the Chitalsar police in Thane on October 9, claiming that an unknown woman was threatening to leak “obscene” chats and videos unless he paid ₹5–10 lakh.
But when the police cyber team began tracing call records and bank details, the seductress’ identity crumbled.
The alleged mastermind was identified as Mohan Jyotiba Pawar, a jobless youth from a farmer’s family who had recently completed his BSc and had been unemployed for six months.
Police said Pawar had once visited Patil’s office seeking a job but was turned away. Short on cash, he decided to hatch a sextortion plot – using his ability to sound like a woman to ensnare the legislator.
Investigators tracked Pawar down to Chandgad using digital trails and called him in for questioning, where he confessed.
He has been booked under section 308(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for extortion and section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and remanded to police custody till October 15.
Interestingly, police said Pawar’s knack for mimicry was honed during his stint as a hotel waiter in Lonavala, where he entertained colleagues by imitating women’s voices. That same party trick, they said, became the cornerstone of his failed con.
Senior police inspector Sunil Warode said the MLA was targeted purely for financial reasons, and there is no evidence yet of any actual obscene material.