Woman declares herself 'dead' to claim insurance money; held

A 35-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly declaring herself "dead" in a bid to fraudulently claim Rs 1 crore from a private insurance company at the behest of her husband, the police said today.
Their plan was foiled by alert officials of the firm who found that the claimant was alive.
The woman's husband Syed Shakeel Alam, a real estate agent who allegedly submitted "fake" documents declaring that his policy-holder wife had died, is on the run.
A police official said Alam sought Rs one crore insurance from the firm in June, saying his wife had died, a Banjara Hills police station official said.

Alam had taken the insurance policy coverage of Rs 1 crore in his wife's name in 2012 and used to pay Rs 11,800 towards the annual premium.
"In June this year, he submitted the insurance claim stating that his wife had died due to chest pain. However, it was found during verification that Alam had submitted fake documents of death of another woman, along with fake medical records, fake certificates pertaining to a graveyard and also a death certificate from the civic body," police inspector K Srinivas said.

However, the insurance company official found that the policy-holder woman was alive and subsequently approached the police.

A case was registered in the last week of September on charges of cheating and forgery under relevant sections of the IPC and the woman was arrested yesterday, he said, adding that Alam is absconding.
Srinivas said another private insurance company had also lodged a complaint accusing the couple of using a similar modus operandi in order to claim insurance policy amount and that case is also under investigation.