Mumbai: A horrifying case has surfaced in Mumbai’s Mira Bhayandar under Valiv police station limits, where a 15-year-old girl fell victim to abduction, forcible religious conversion and sexual assault by a local youth, officials said on Monday.

The accused has been identified as Javed.

The two developed a friendship in their neighbourhood. Javed exploited the friendship by secretly recording her explicit photos and videos, then blackmailing her into accompanying him to Madhya Pradesh.

After the minor was taken to Madhya Pradesh, she was kept there for six months, during which she faced relentless abuse, officials said.

Javed escalated the horror by creating a fake Instagram profile using the girl’s name and photos, posting a rate card for her services per night to auction her online, they added.

According to the information received, Javed also forced her to convert to Islam and attempted to make her eat beef, compounding the trauma for the minor whose father had passed away recently.

She somehow managed to escape from the single room in Madhya Pradesh and came back home to Mumbai.

Following this, she narrated the months of abuse to her family members, who then filed an FIR at the Valiv police station.

Despite the girl filing an FIR at Valiv police station, Javed remains at large.

The victim has said that this has left her terrified as the police have failed to arrest him, and she fears for her life.

Terrified, the victim is now writing a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking urgent intervention in the case.

The police said that they are investigating the case and searching for the accused.

Further details are awaited.

This incident comes at a time when Maharashtra has experienced a continuous, well-planned campaign by Hindutva groups aimed at compelling the state government to implement a strict anti-conversion law, commonly referred to as an ‘anti-love jihad’ law.

Mumbai: Even as Deonar police continue their investigation into the alleged registration of 106 fake birth records in Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s M East Ward, another case involving a forged birth certificate has come to light. A separate offence has been registered against Govandi resident Fahed Abdul Salam Sheikh for allegedly submitting a fake birth certificate along with his passport application.

According to the FIR, Police Constable Vitthal Yashwant Bakle, who is attached to the passport verification cell at the Deonar police station, lodged the complaint. Sheikh’s passport application, dated June 3, 2025, was received at the police station on July 14, 2025. The applicant is a resident of Flat No. 2206, B Wing, Centrio Building, Waman Tukaram Patil Marg, Govandi.

As part of the verification process, Bakle visited the address mentioned in the application. On July 24, Sheikh personally appeared at the police station with his documents for verification. His birth certificate was subsequently sent for authenticity verification to the issuing authority the office of the Health Officer, Kalaburagi City Corporation, Jagat Circle, Main Road, Kalaburagi, Karnataka.

During a field inquiry conducted by the Deonar police in Kalaburagi, the Registrar of Births and Deaths, Kalaburagi Municipal Corporation, informed the police through a letter dated December 9 that no record of Sheikh’s birth certificate dated April 15, 1993 was found in official registers. This confirmed that the birth certificate submitted during passport verification was forged.

Based on these findings, the Deonar police have registered a case against Fahed Sheikh under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, and the Passport Act, and further investigation is underway.

Mumbai: The Amboli police have booked three individuals for allegedly embezzling Rs 1.41 crore from Hari Media Network Private Limited through a series of fake projects and forged documents. The accused are Rishbh Sureka, a former senior manager–client servicing (influencer marketing) at the company, Yash Nagarkoti, CEO of Hooray Movies, and Ashay Shastri.

Sureka is accused of forging actress Athiya Shetty’s signature and creating a fake email ID in the name of actor Arshad Warsi to execute the fraud. Hari Media Network, which provides advertising and marketing services, has its head office in Haryana and a branch in Andheri West, Mumbai, opposite Yash Raj Films. Sureka joined in July 2023 and was authorised to handle influencer branding, project coordination, and communications with the finance team and CEO.

Soon after joining, Sureka received an interest-free loan of Rs 15 lakh from the company for his mother’s medical treatment. The fraud came to light through multiple fake invoices. In August 2024, Sureka claimed a Havells project featuring actress Dia Mirza required Rs31 lakh for Hooray Movies, which was approved. He allegedly told Nagarkoti the payment would be Rs 62 lakh.

After completion, Nagarkoti withheld the video and demanded the extra amount, citing a forged email from Sureka. The company paid an additional Rs 19 lakh to release the video. Investigations revealed Sureka, Nagarkoti, and Shastri conspired to submit forged bills in the names of brands like Havells, Mahindra Lifespaces, Realme Number Series, and Birla Estates. These fake claims totalled over Rs 52 lakh, transferred to Sureka’s personal account.

In January 2024, Sureka misused the company’s email to approach Matrix Entertainment, Athiya Shetty’s talent managers, and independently secured a Rs40 lakh advertisement with Khanna Jewellers. He forged Shetty’s signature on a fake agreement, collected Rs15 lakh from the jeweller, and did not pass it to Matrix. He also created a fake Zomato invoice involving Shetty and cricketer KL Rahul.