14 February 2020, 2:14 AM, Andheri East police station.
Rohan Sharma, 29, software engineer from Pune, sat on a wooden bench with tears rolling down his cheeks. In his phone were screenshots of three UPI transactions: ₹8,000 + ₹12,000 + ₹8,000 = ₹28,000 gone in 27 minutes.
The “Russian escort” named Alina had promised to reach his hotel in 20 minutes. Instead, the handler kept asking for “cab money”, then “police clearance”, then “hotel deposit”. Number blocked. Girl never existed.
The inspector flipped through the FIR diary and said, “Beta, you’re victim number 87 this week. Same Mewat gang. We recovered ₹11,000 from 412 cases last year. Good luck.”
Rohan walked out, opened WhatsApp, and created a group: “Mumbai Safe Lobby”. He added four college friends who had lost money too. They made one rule:
“No girl steps out of a 5-star lobby until cash is counted on the table under CCTV.”
That night, 11 men joined. By 11 AM, 43 fresh photos were shared. By 7 PM, 7 lobby meets happened at Taj, ITC, and Leela. Zero advance. Zero scams. The safest escort system in India was born.
