Six held for claiming insurance with fake death certificates

Six persons, including two doctors and a civic-run crematorium employee, were arrested in Thane in Maharashtra for allegedly creating fake death certificates to claim insurance, police said Sunday.

Senior Inspector Sanju John of Thane Police's Crime Branch identified the main accused as Kalyan-resident Chandrakant Narasimulu Shinde and said the latter had claimed at least Rs 81 lakh from private insurance firms using such forged death certificates.

"Shinde first got in touch with Tejpal Ramveer Mehrol, an employee at the Mumbra civic crematorium. Mehrol managed to get fake death certificates from Abdul Mohid Siddiqui and Imran Siddiqui, two doctors operating from Mumbra," John said.

"The two doctors have issued 13 death certificates in this manner, including ten in the names of people who are alive and residing in Andhra Pradesh," the official said.

"Shinde started this racket after he managed to obtain the life insurance payout of some relatives who were still alive. This emboldened him. Our probe shows he obtained Rs 81 lakh worth of claims and was in the process of filing for another Rs 55 lakh," John said.

He said two of Shinde's relatives, identified as Laxmi Shinde and her husband Narayan Shinde, have also been arrested.

"Mehrol used to get Rs 15,000 for each fake death certificate while the two doctors used to get just Rs 2,000 each. All six have been arrested. We are probing if more people, including staff from the Thane Municipal Corporation, are involved in this racket," he informed.

A case of cheating and forgery has been registered against the six accused in Vitthalwadi police station here, he said.