Maharashtra
Honey-Trapping Scam Targets Men In Mumbai Through Fake Escort Services; Check How To Stay Safe
After dating app scams, online escort services have become as a new way of duping men in Mumbai. These digital flesh trade dens, masquerading as legitimate websites, promise foreign escorts and vanish after receiving payments. One such website, posing as a ‘Web Blog’, lures victims by advertising women from countries like Africa, Australia, Japan, and Russia.
A prominent example is Massage Republic, a site claiming to provide commentaries on politics and human trafficking. However, it redirects visitors to a page offering escort services in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, and even international locations like Dubai, Bangkok, and Nairobi.
One of the people who was recently cheated after booking an online escort service from the website conveyed his ordeal to The Free Press Journal. He booked a Nigerian escort for Rs8,000 through the site. Directed to a hotel in Marol Naka, Andheri (E), he paid Rs2,000 upfront to the hotel manager. Inside the room, he was told to pay the remaining amount before the woman arrived. However, the woman who eventually showed up was not the one he had booked.
“When I confronted the woman, she demanded extra money to arrange for the same woman I had asked for. Sensing something was amiss, he refused, asking for a refund. The woman excused herself, claiming the money had to be recovered from the initial recipient, who had already disappeared. The hotel manager denied any involvement,” the man said on condition of anonymity.
The man claimed to have contacted the police but alleged that the police did not entertain his verbal complaint. However, he said that he did not want to be an official complainant fearing public humiliation and hardships in personal life. The Free Press Journal got connected with another man, a local from Mumbai, who had also booked services from a Nigerian national and was cheated in the same way. Notably, both the incidents happened in the same hotel located in Marol Naka of Andheri (E).
However, when one of the victims reached out to the Human Rights Commission, an NGO working on cases of human rights violations, the NGO’s Maharashtra vice president Roshan Pathak reached out to multiple women offering escort services through the website. He found out that all the Nigerian women denied to meet at any other place and pressed on meeting at the same hotel in Marol Naka where both the men were scammed.
“Normally, nobody would understand that there is an escort service website behind this blog. The women would reply on WhatsApp only after we provided them with a code received from the website. Although all the women demanded different prices ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs12,000, they would ultimately agree to Rs8,000 after negotiations. Similarly, Russian and Japanese women would call at their places in Bandra and Khar. This seems to be a new easy way of scamming men since they are vulnerable and do not speak out about it fearing shame,” said Pathak.
Modus Operandi…
Scammers create websites posing as blogs but secretly offering escort services
They advertise escorts of various nationalities (Nigerian, Russian, Japanese)
Victims are directed to specific hotels, like one in Marol Naka, Andheri (E)
Victims pay an upfront fee to hotel staff or directly to the scammers
A different woman shows up, demanding additional money to bring the promised escort
Excuses are made, and the initial contact disappears with the money
Victims hesitate to report the scam due to fear of social embarrassment
Interaction occurs via WhatsApp, accessible only through codes from the website
Maharashtra
Mumbai Weather Update: City Sees Clear Skies After Heavy Overnight Downpour, Yellow Alert Issued; Overall AQI In Moderate Range At 63

Mumbai: After heavy rains lashed the city on Friday, bringing brief waterlogging and traffic disruptions, Mumbai woke up to sunny skies on Saturday morning. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) cautioned that the respite may be short-lived, as the city remains under a Yellow Alert with a forecast of partly cloudy skies and a possibility of moderate rain or thunderstorms through the day.
According to the IMD, temperatures are expected to hover around 34°C during the day and dip to about 25°C at night. The brief spell of unseasonal rain not only cooled the weather but also brought a remarkable improvement in the city’s air quality, which had deteriorated sharply post-Diwali due to increased pollution and stagnant winds.
Overall AQI In Moderate Category
Real-time data from AQI.in showed that Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 63 on Saturday morning, placing it in the moderate category, a notable recovery from the unhealthy levels recorded earlier in the week.
Among the city’s monitoring stations, Wadala Truck Terminal reported the highest pollution level with an AQI of 190, followed by BKC (75), Kurla (73), Worli (73) and Chembur (72). While mild traces of smog lingered in some of these areas during the early morning, visibility and air freshness improved significantly across most parts of Mumbai.
On the other hand, several localities recorded remarkably clean air. Thakur Village in Kandivali reported the city’s best air quality with an AQI of 25, while Parel-Bhoiwada (32), Malad West (38), Borivali East (40), and Kandivali East (43) also registered good air quality, offering much-needed relief to residents.
As per AQI.in’s classification, readings between 0–50 indicate “Good” air, 51–100 “Moderate”, 101–150 “Poor”, 151–200 “Unhealthy”, and above 200 “Severe” to “Hazardous.”
Friday’s rain marked the third unseasonal spell after the official monsoon withdrawal and was accompanied by lightning, thunder and gusty winds. The IMD had issued a Nowcast warning late Friday evening, alerting of potential thunderstorms and moderate rainfall over Mumbai and adjoining districts. Meanwhile, most parts of Maharashtra, excluding the Vidarbha region, continue to remain under a Yellow Alert for the next few days.
Maharashtra
Brave officer risked his life to save injured girl

Mumbai: Mumbai Police Traffic Officer has shown bravery in saving a young girl from the clutches of a cruel lover, after which this officer is being praised. He took the injured and bleeding girl to the hospital and risked his life to free her from the armed youth, after which the youth committed suicide.
Today at 10:17 am, a call was received from the MTP helpline of the Byculla Traffic Department Group that two-wheelers and four-wheelers were parked on the footpath in front of Meoresh Building, Dataram Lad Marg, Kalachowki, causing inconvenience to the passers-by. In response to the said call, Rider Police Constable Karan Suryavanshi of the Byculla Traffic Department reached the spot. When he was taking action at the said place, some people present there told the officer that a boy was attacking a girl with a knife in the cabin of Astha Nursing Home. Seeing the seriousness of the incident, Kiran Suryavanshi immediately went to the spot and tried to free the victim girl from the clutches of the accused boy and took her out of the nursing home. Since she was in an injured condition, he showed haste and without a moment’s delay, put the girl in a taxi and brought her to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Ranibag. The girl was given first aid there. Officers and personnel from Kalachowki took the injured woman to JJ Hospital for further treatment.
Besides, in this incident, the attacker also stabbed himself and was taken to KEM Hospital with the help of Kalachowki Police Station.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 4, Assistant Commissioner of Police as well as Senior Police Inspector of Kalachowki Police Station visited Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Railway Hospital.
The girl is undergoing treatment at Sir JJ Hospital. Police officers from Kalachowki police station are conducting further investigations. The officer is being praised for protecting the girl without caring for his own life and saving her from the clutches of her heartbroken lover.
Maharashtra
Samajwadi Party is not part of Mumbai Municipal Corporation Vikas Aghadi: Abu Asim Azmi

Mumbai: The Samajwadi Party will not enter into an electoral alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, not will it be part of this alliance. Those who objected to the release of innocent Muslims imprisoned for 19 years but remained silent on the release of the accused in the Malegaon blasts. Those who express pride in the demolition of the Babri Masjid, take the names of Lord Ram and Lord Vishwanath, but call the holy water of the Sangam smelly and make Uttar Bharatiyas and North Indians a target for violence. This is a province where the Pawars go to do their country’s panddan. Those belonging to such provinces insult and subject North Indians and Biharis to violence.
If such people are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Samajwadi Party will never be part of it.
The Samajwadi Party does politics of justice, secularism, constitutional values and Ganga-Jamuni culture. Therefore, we cannot be part of any alliance that includes forces that spread hatred and divide the country. This kind of explanation has been given by Mumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi. Elections are approaching, in such a situation, Mahayoti and Maha Vikas Aghadi are very serious about their allied parties. In such a situation, the Samajwadi Party has clearly refused to enter into an understanding with Maha Vikas Aghadi and has called it biased. Now there is curiosity about the expected entry and entry of MNS in Maha Vikas. In such a situation, the Samajwadi Party has denied it and said that it is unable to participate in the elections with those who incite violence on the basis of regionalism.
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