Dangerous liaisons: Mumbai escort robs BJP MP's businessman son of valuables worth Rs 1.5 lakh

Mehar Singh Tanwar, son of BJP MP Kunwar Singh Tanwar from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, was looted at knife-point outside a five-star hotel in Mumbai’s Santa Cruz by an escort he hired on Sunday evening. According to a report in The Indian Express, valuables worth Rs 1.5 lakh was looted from Tanwar by the ’escort’ and her driver, who aided her in the robbery, outside the hotel. A case of dacoity has been registered with the Vakola police. CCTV footage, acquired from near the area, however did not show any signs of struggle or violence. Mehar told The Times of India by SMS that the complaint was genuine and added, “Tell me why India is not safe? That’s the reason why I filed a police complaint. Robbing NRIs is a big racket in Mumbai. Even the DCP of that area visited the hotel.” [caption id=“attachment_2398542” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Representative image. Reuters[/caption] The report added that the police had picked up two people from the escort service agency for questioning from Vakola, their area of operations. “The two confessed that those who fell into their trap were from other cities and states. They (the victims) did not file complaints fearing humiliation,” said an investigator. However, the report in The Indian Express said that no arrests have been made yet. The report also added that the escort had four accomplices, and not just one, in the robbery. The police said that Mehar, who was staying at the Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz (East), had contacted an escort agency on Sunday evening. He allegedly asked them to send a female escort to his room. The escort agency, The Indian Express report said, allegedly told him to meet the woman outside the hotel. “He had contacted the escort service through WhatsApp and had approved of a woman. He was then asked by an agent of the escort agency to make the payment outside the hotel,” a police officer at Vakola police station told The Indian Express. Huffington Post reported that Tanwar had called Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria, who told him to call the Vakola police station. Police, after scanning the 10-minute CCTV footage, told The Times of India that Mehar and his friend entered the hotel in a car with the woman, who was seated next to them. As they got out of the car and walked towards the hotel lobby, the woman remained seated. “Mehar and his friend thought the woman was right behind them, but within seconds, the car drove away. One of the two persons who were detained told us that she left with the cash he had paid her,” an investigating officer told The Times of India. The police is also in talks with the hotel staff to find out the exact timeline of the happenings on Sunday evening. Speaking to The Hindustan Times, a hotel staffer said, “We are cooperating with the police and cannot comment until we are aware of the scope of the investigation. There is no chance of the incident having occurred inside the hotel premises because there is a lot of movement and no opportunity for any isolation.” Meanwhile, MP Kunwar Singh Tanwar said that the escort was not ordered by his son but his business partner who was put up in the same hotel. “My son is a partner in a countrywide restaurant dealership and had been invited to Mumbai for business by his NRI partner. On Sunday, the partner called the escort agency and was told to meet the agent outside the hotel… When my son and his partner went outside, four men threatened them and forcibly took my son’s wristwatch worth Rs 1.5 lakh and the cash he was carrying,” Kanwar Singh Tanwar told The Indian Express.