Kolhapur Siblings Arrested for Honey-trapping MLA

Mumbai:In a shocking incident, Maharashtra police have arrested a brother-sister duo from Kolhapur for allegedly honey-trapping a sitting MLA Shivaji Patil and attempting to extort money from him by sending obscene photos. The names of the arrested accused are Mohan Jotiba Pawar (age 26) and Shamal Jotiba Pawar (age 26). Both are residents of Mandedurg in Chandgad taluka.

According to police, Kolhapur’s Chandgad assembly MLA Shivaji Patil had started receiving persistent WhatsApp calls from an unknown number before the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections. Since then, the woman had been contacting the MLA for over a year using different mobile numbers. She began sending objectionable photos and messages, demanding Rs one lakh, later Rs five lakh, and eventually up to Rs 10 lakh — threatening to post the chats and images on social media if he refused to pay.

After Patil blocked the number, the accused used other numbers to send obscene content and issued threats. After repeated harassment, MLA Patil filed a complaint on October 8 at the Chitalsar Police Station in Thane. Police registered the case and launched an investigation with the help of the Cyber Cell to trace the woman through digital forensics.

Chandgad Police traced the numbers to Mohan Pawar and Shamal Pawar and arrested them on Friday. The accused have been handed over to the Thane police for further investigation.

In his complaint, Patil received repeated WhatsApp calls from an unknown number in September 2024, which he ignored initially. Eventually he answered one call, when the woman claimed to know him and expressed a desire to be friends. When the MLA refused to engage and blocked her number, he began receiving similar calls and messages from another number a few weeks later. The same woman, this time using a different name, allegedly sent him obscene chats, photographs and videos.

When the MLA did not respond to her messages, the woman allegedly threatened to file a false complaint against him and leak their chats and videos to defame him publicly. According to police, she later sent him a copy of her Aadhaar card along with a bank account number, claiming she needed Rs 5–10 lakh for her father’s medical treatment. When the MLA refused to pay, she allegedly continued issuing threats.

Subsequently, Patil approached the police with printed copies of the WhatsApp chats, photographs, and call records as evidence. Based on his complaint, a case was registered under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (relating to the transmission or publication of obscene material in electronic form), and Section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (pertaining to extortion).