Murder Scam For Insurance Claim

Five fraudsters have been arrested in Nalgonda district on charges of being involved in fraudulent life insurance claims by killing people and projecting the deaths as due to road accidents, police sources said on Tuesday. The gang used to deliver forceful blows on the chest of the victims to kill them and later used different vehicles to run over their bodies, the sources said.

The fraudsters in connivance with family members of the deceased and others claimed insurance amounts from different private insurers to the tune of more than ₹1.59 crore after making road accident claims aggregating over ₹3.39 crore, Nalgonda district superintendent of police A V Ranganath said. The prime accused, who earlier worked in a finance firm, conspired with other accused and during 2013-2017 committed at least five offences--four murders and portrayed one natural death as accidental deaths.

They used to select sick people and those addicted to liquor and convinced their family members and also bought term insurance policies by paying a premium on their behalf. After killing such insurance policyholders, the accused used to portray it as accidental deaths to claim double insurance amounts from the insurance companies. After getting the insurance claim they later shared the claim amount with their family members and others.

However, the modus operandi came to light after police got information that on February 24 this year, a man was killed but it was projected that he died in a road accident. Police took up investigations and the medical and post-mortem reports revealed the cause of death of the man due to homicidal injury.

During the course of the investigation and after questioning the man's family members, the five were arrested. Police said they were also probing the role of others including insurance company inquiry officers, agents, a bank official and some village elders in the fraud.