UP Police arrests man in inter-state insurance scam in Sambhal; 67 held so far

Sambhal (UP), Aug 6 (PTI) In the crackdown against an inter-state insurance fraud network, Sambhal Police on Wednesday arrested yet another member of the so-called "insurance mafia," taking the total number of arrests in the past six months to 67.

Addressing a press conference, Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said the arrested person, identified as Pankaj Kumar Dhali, was involved in orchestrating fraudulent personal loans and insurance claims using forged documents and identities.

Police recovered 33 PAN cards, 28 Aadhaar cards, and 39 cheque books from his possession.

He said while earlier cases in the scam involved murder to claim insurance money, the latest case revealed a different modus operandi --” using fabricated identities to issue personal loans in the names of unsuspecting individuals and siphon off insurance payouts.

In one instance, the accused used the identity of Dharmendra, a daily wage labourer and resident of Delhi, to falsely show him as an employee of a shell company named "Falon Case Lab Pvt Ltd." Loans of Rs 12.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh were fraudulently issued in his name, despite the fact that Dharmendra is alive, police said.

Another person previously arrested in the same case, identified as Shahrukh, had allegedly taken insurance policies worth Rs 90 lakh in Dharmendra's name across multiple companies.

He also allegedly procured a fake death certificate from GB Pant Hospital to falsely claim that the victim had died, in order to access the insurance money. Shahrukh was arrested in February.

Dhali is also accused of presenting forged documents to show people from various states,” including Punjab (Gurdaspur), Uttarakhand (Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar) and Uttar Pradesh (Bareilly, Baghpat, Moradabad),” as employees of his fake company, thereby committing large-scale insurance fraud.

"This is a massive inter-state insurance fraud racket. In the past six months alone, 67 people have been jailed in separate cases linked to this scam. Further investigation is underway and new details will be shared as they emerge," SP Vishnoi said. PTI COR KIS OZ OZ