For this IAS aspirant, an innocent Tinder date led to a Rs 1.2 lakh bill: Here's his story
We all know online dating can be hit or miss, but for one IAS aspirant, a simple first date turned into a nightmare of epic proportions. What was supposed to be a pleasant meet-up ended with him being scammed out of a significant amount of money.?
On Sunday, an IAS aspirant went to the Black Mirror Cafe on Vikas Marg in East Delhi to celebrate the birthday of Versha, a woman he had recently matched with on Tinder. What began as a promising date took a dramatic turn for the worse.
At the cafe, they ordered some snacks, two cakes, and four shots of a non-alcoholic drink. Everything seemed to be going well until Versha suddenly left, claiming a family emergency.
When the IAS aspirant asked for the bill, he was shocked to find that he owed an exorbitant Rs 1,21,917.70¡ªan amount far beyond what the food and drinks should have cost.?
Despite his protests, he was threatened and confined by the staff until he paid the outrageous bill online to one of the cafe¡¯s owners, 32-year-old Akshay Pahwa.
Once free, he immediately reported the incident to the police.?
Inspector Sanjay Gupta led a four-member team to investigate the case, which resulted in Akshay Pahwa¡¯s arrest.
During the investigation, Akshay revealed that the Black Mirror Cafe is co-owned by him, Ansh Grover, and Vansh Pahwa. Akshay and Vansh are cousins, while Ansh is their friend. The cafe employs "table managers," including one Aryan, a Class 7 dropout and current unemployed individual. Aryan is managed by another employee named Digranshu.
Akshay also disclosed that Versha¡¯s real identity is Afsan Parveen, a 25-year-old woman who also goes by the names Ayesha and Noor. When the police tracked her down, she was at another cafe on a date with a man from Mumbai whom she had met on Shaadi.com.
Ms. Parveen explained their scheme to the authorities. Aryan had posed as Versha and invited the victim to the cafe under the pretense of celebrating her birthday. Once there, Ms. Parveen staged the family emergency and left, leaving the victim to face the fraudulent bill.
The scam was well-orchestrated, with various players taking a share of the money: Ms. Parveen received 15% of the total amount, 45% was split between the table and cafe managers, and the remaining 40% went to the owners.?
The police revealed that similar schemes are active in major cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, exploiting victims through sophisticated collaborations among cafe owners, managers, and accomplices who specifically target men on dating apps.
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