What if you could rent a Garba partner for Navratri?
That is the question behind a bizarre Instagram trend that has been doing the rounds ahead of the festival. One viral post from Gujarat-based Instagram user Krish Mistry offered people the option of hiring a Garba companion through three packages, starting at ₹1,000.
What began as an unusual social-media post soon became much bigger. Other Instagram accounts copied the format, changed the prices and added their own increasingly elaborate or absurd “services.” Some users treated the whole thing as a joke, while others appeared genuinely interested.
Now, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime officials are examining several of these accounts over concerns that seemingly harmless advertisements could also be used for phishing, payment fraud or other cybercrime.
It Started With A Three-Tier Garba Menu
Mistry’s original post offered three options.
The Silver package, priced at ₹1,000, promised two hours of Garba, matching outfits, basic dance lessons and selfies. The Gold package at ₹1,500 offered four hours of Garba, a made-up “how we met” story and videos for Instagram.
The Platinum package, priced at ₹2,000, offered all-day Garba, help with a dupatta and jhumkas, a forehead kiss after Garba and a safe drop-off.
The post even invited people to apply in the comments.
And people did.
India Today reported that while many users joked about the idea, some asked how they could apply or showed genuine interest.
But the original post did not remain a one-off.
Then Instagram Turned It Into A Format
As the post travelled across social media, other accounts began borrowing the same idea and putting their own spin on it.
Some versions retained the Silver-Gold-Platinum format. Others increased the prices or added new “perks.” One post offers an “NRI Garba Partner,” while another pushes the packages as high as ₹6,500. Others turn the entire concept into an obvious parody.
Comedy creators picked up the format too. Gujarati Instagram creator Kajal Kevadiya posted a reel mimicking the original ad’s pitch almost line for line — walking through Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers in the same tone, down to local touches like an “Ambaji fair” origin story and playing garba styles like popat, hudo and dodhiyu.
Creator Dimple Patel took a more reactive angle, joking that “everything is available on rent now” and that people no longer need to get married since they can rent a partner for any occasion.
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That matters because not every “Rent A Garba Partner” graphic circulating online should automatically be read as another genuine business advertisement. Some are clearly adaptations or jokes based on the original viral format.
The format also spread beyond individual meme accounts, with media and social-media pages discussing the trend in reels.
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So, was everyone simply joking?
Not quite.
Some People Are Actually Looking For A Garba Plus-One — And Reddit Had A Lot To Say
Alongside the parody posts and reactions, there are people online genuinely looking for someone to attend Garba with.
A post on r/surat_underground, titled “Looking for a Garba Partner / Plus One,” captures this directly. The user wrote: “Hey everyone! I’m a 23-year-old guy who’s completely new to Garba and looking to find a female Garba partner or someone who’s looking for a plus one for the upcoming Garba nights.”
The post picked up 26 comments.
That does not establish that the paid Instagram services are genuine. But it does show that the basic demand behind the viral joke — finding someone to go to Garba with — exists independently of the advertisements.
Elsewhere on Reddit, reactions to the trend split into two waves.
The first wave came when the original “Rent A Garba Partner” poster went viral purely as comedy. Commenting on the post itself, one user called it “Consumerism final boss,” while another joked, “Please, take me somewhere for free, just feed me some samosas every now and then.”
In a separate thread, u/Allahabadi Ghat lover admitted, “Too gareeb for this but I’ll prefer platinum (even a loner like me needs forehead kiss).”
The second wave came once the fraud warnings made headlines. Commenting under a Times of India report on the Ahmedabad police warning, one user wrote: “Lmao, I thought people are doing it just for reels. How desperate can one be to pay for it tho?”
Another user, simply asked, “Who exactly falls for that!?” Replying in the same thread, another user pushed back on the disbelief: “Scarce resources has always created either a good stressed business model or a huge room for scams… Think of oxygen cylinders [during the] Covid 2nd wave.”
At least one commenter claimed to know of an actual victim, writing under the headline “Beware of Garba Partner scams!”: “Also happened with one of my friend’s friend, He lost around 12K thinking he will get an actual beautiful girl as his garba partner, savdhan raho, satark raho.”
Read more: What Is The ‘Rent-An-Account’ Scam Targeting Youngsters?
Cybercrime Officials Started Asking Who Was Behind The Accounts
Ahmedabad Cyber Crime is now examining several social-media posts offering Garba partners for hire.
ACP Hardik Mandakia said the cell had been monitoring the posts for five to six days. He said the first posts came from a limited number of genuine accounts — often self-shared by users to gain reach — but that similar content then spread rapidly across multiple other profiles, some of which appeared to be AI-generated.
The investigation is not limited to one Instagram account. Officials say accounts operating from Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai are being scrutinised, with account holders in these cities questioned about the purpose and authenticity of the posts.
Officials are checking whether the advertisements are genuine services, promotional or stunt content, or whether some could be used to lure people into phishing, WhatsApp hacking or financial fraud.
Investigators are also examining whether posts contain suspicious payment links, messages or images that redirect users to external platforms.
Ahmedabad Cyber Crime DCP Dr Lavina Sinha explained the concern directly: “Such messages are going viral and trending on various social media platforms, saying that you can rent a partner. For a certain amount, you can take them to a garba venue or spend the entire day doing garba shopping.“
She added that there may not necessarily be a known or genuine person behind an account offering such services, and flagged a second risk: “This can also potentially become a scam, where even after taking the payment, there is a possibility that the service for which the payment is being made may not be provided.”
“Alternatively,” she said, “through the link used for making the payment, an attempt could also be made to carry out a digital scam or cyber fraud.”
The Prices Have Also Changed As The Trend Spread
The original viral post had packages ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000. But other advertisements now circulating online have quoted prices from around ₹500 to ₹6,500.
Some versions also include more personal or deliberately provocative add-ons.
Police have not established that every account carrying these advertisements is fraudulent.
The investigation aims to establish which accounts are genuine, which are promotional or humorous, and whether any are being used for malicious purposes.
It’s Not Just A Cybercrime Concern — Some See It As An Affront To The Festival
The backlash hasn’t only come from cyber officials. Surat Bajrang Dal activist Pratap Rajpurohit said the festival is meant for the worship of the Goddess, devotion and traditional garba — not for seeking partners this way — describing the trend as reflecting a “low mentality” and calling it a form of fraud.
Gujarat Bajrang Dal regional co-convenor Jwalit Mehta called for the people behind the posts to be identified, arguing that people traditionally attend garba with family, friends and relatives, and that there’s no need for a rented partner at a festival dedicated to Maa Shakti.
Now Mumbai Police Are Being Asked To Investigate Too
The issue has now moved beyond Gujarat.
On September 22, 2026, Mumbai BJP MLA Sanjay Upadhyay filed a police complaint seeking an investigation into Instagram advertisements offering Garba partners for prices reportedly ranging from ₹1,500 to ₹6,500.
Addressing a press conference, Upadhyay said the advertisement “could be a dating app, honey trap, or a ploy to cheat young men and women.” He added: “I have written to the Mumbai Police Commissioner and demanded strict action against those trying to defame the Hindu festival Navratri.”
He has asked police to identify the organisers and advertisers behind the posts and investigate whether any fraud, misconduct or legal violations are involved.
Mumbai Police officials have confirmed that the contents of the complaint, along with the digital links provided, are undergoing preliminary verification to determine whether the posts represent a genuine illicit enterprise, an online scam, or simply a mischievous social media trend.
His complaint also raises concerns about some of the more personal services mentioned in the advertisements, including “forehead kiss” and other add-ons.
These are allegations in his complaint, not evidence that such activities are taking place.
So, Is The “Rent A Garba Partner” Trend A Scam?
There is no single answer yet.
What we know is that one unusual Instagram post offering paid Garba companionship went viral. Other accounts then copied, adapted and parodied the format. Some people appeared genuinely interested in finding a Garba partner, while others turned the idea into memes.
At the same time, cybercrime officials have identified enough uncertainty around some of these accounts to investigate who is operating them and whether users could be exposed to phishing, payment fraud or account compromise.
The takeaway is simple.
If an unknown Instagram account asks for an advance payment, sends an unfamiliar payment link or asks you to click a suspicious image or message, do not assume that a viral post means the account is trustworthy.
Ahmedabad Cyber Crime has advised people to be cautious about making payments through such social-media advertisements. Anyone who suspects a cyber scam or loses money can contact the national cybercrime helpline 1930 and report the matter to the police.
For now, the strangest part of the trend may not be that people are willing to pay someone to dance Garba with them.
It is how quickly one unusual Instagram post can turn into a whole online format — complete with genuine interest, parody versions, increasingly elaborate price lists and, eventually, a cybercrime investigation into what is actually happening behind the screen.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, The New Indian Express, The Print
Find the blogger: @diptisadh
This post is tagged under: Rent A Garba Partner, Rent A Garba Partner trend, Garba partner, Garba 2026, Navratri 2026, Garba trend, Instagram trends, viral Instagram trend, Gujrat cyber crime, Ahmedabad cyber crime, Mumbai Police, Sanjay Upadhay, cybercrime, online scams, Instagram scams, Navratri trend, Garba news
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