Fraudsters "kill" 20-year-old on paper to claim Rs 1 crore insurance ,3 booked
Fraudsters "kill" 20-year-old on paper to claim Rs 1 crore insurance, 3 booked
Ferozepur: In a bizarre twist straight out of a crime thriller, a 20-year-old youth from Ferozepur's Nava Purba village had to prove he was alive after fraudsters allegedly declared him dead on paper to pocket insurance claims worth over Rs 1 crore.
On the complaint of the victim, V., the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Sukhdev Singh, S. from Kunde village, and S. Khanna. The accused allegedly took documents of the victim, got four insurance policies in his name, and later declared him dead on paper through fraudulent means. The incident came to light before they could collect over Rs 1 crore of the insurance claim money.
V., who hails from Kot Karor Kalan village in Moga district, stated in his complaint to the police that he, along with his family, moved to Nawan Purba village in Ferozepur about six months ago. The victim was shocked to learn that a fake death certificate had been issued in his name by the chief registrar of births and deaths, Punjab. To make the fraud more convincing, an ashes immersion slip from a Tarn Taran-based religious organisation and an affidavit from a woman posing as his wife were also submitted, certifying his "death.
V.l said the scam began when a neighbour, S., lured him with the promise of arranging a private bank loan at attractive interest rates. Trusting her, he shared his documents and even underwent KYC verification. However, the loan never materialised. The fraud surfaced on Sept 8 when the sarpanch of Kot Karor Kalan village contacted V.'s relatives to ascertain what had happened to him. Upon being told that V.was alive, he informed the family, following which the death certificate, a slip mentioning immersion of ashes, and a forged affidavit were retrieved.
On Sept 15, V. informed the police. The investigating officer, inspector A. M., claimed that during investigations, the police found several insurance policies had been taken in V.'s name, amounting to around Rs 1.43 crore, with premiums duly paid. He said fake documents, including a forged Aadhaar card with a tampered photograph, were allegedly used to make claims, citing heart failure as the cause of V.'s death.
The officer said a probe was underway to identify other individuals possibly involved in the organised fraud and how the official documents, such as death certificates, were manipulated. The accused are at large, the inspector said.