Delhi Police expose an inter-state insurance scam

The Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) of the Delhi Police has arrested six men from Begusarai in Bihar, who were part of an inter-state racket involved in cheating over 100 people by selling them fake insurance policies of reputed companies, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Birender Kumar Das (33), Roshan Kumar (38), Dinesh Kumar Das (44), Bablu Malakar (51), Pawan Kumar (33) and Mithilesh Kumar (26), all residents of Begusarai.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Prashant Gautam said that a complainant had alleged that an unknown group of people had cheated him to the tune of Rs 2.80 crore over the period of seven to eight years on the pretext of insurance policies.

Two more victims, who had also suffered loss of Rs 85 lakhs and Rs 19 lakhs, respectively, on account of similar modus operandi, also came forward.

"During investigation, it was established that about 35 bank accounts were used to dupe the complainant. Analysis of money trail and the electronic records revealed that the racket is spread across many states and is being operated in many tiers," said the DCP.

The financial scrutiny further revealed that there were transactions of over Rs 40 crore in the alleged accounts and more than 100 victims have been duped by the syndicate.

"Through the extensive financial trail and technical analysis, the accused persons were found to be operating from the area of Begusarai. Information was further developed through manual and electronic surveillance and on January 10, acting on specific information, Birender, Roshan, Dinesh and Bablu were arrested in the case," said the official.

On interrogation of inter-state insurance scam, they all disclosed that the mastermind of the entire network was Pawan.

"It was also divulged by the accused that Pawan would receive the cheated money in cash. Finally, on February 27, Pawan was arrested. Further, one more accused namely Mithilesh was arrested from Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh)," said the DCP.

"Five such complainants, who have been duped by these accused, have been identified so far. Further investigation in this regard is in progress," said the official.

Police have also recovered 1,091 Baroda Bank ATM cards, 22 Fino Bank instant debit cards, 56 blank passbooks of Bank of Baroda among others from the possession of the accused.

The DCP said that interrogation of the accused and ongoing investigation in the case has revealed that it is a multiple tier racket operating from distant locations in the country.

"The investigation revealed that the operation was divided into fou r tiers, with each tier playing a specific role in the overall scheme. The first tier involved the theft of insurance customer data, with two suspects arrested and currently in judicial custody," said the official.

"The second tier provided fake bank accounts and SIM cards to the accused, while the third tier provided training and technical expertise. Three companies have been identified as being involved in the third tier, and their antecedents are currently being verified. The fourth tier involved calling customers with the stolen data and convincing them to transfer money to the fake accounts provided," the official added. [IANS/NS]