7 held for posing as insurance agents

Two accused picked up from Thane, five from Guhagar while on picnic

Mumbai: A seven-member gang of conmen who allegedly cheated at least 22 people by posing as insurance agents was apprehended in Mulund on Wednesday. Police said the gang had promised victims across the State bonuses on their life insurance policies, and conned them into paying considerable amounts towards processing fees,

The police began investigating the gang earlier this month, after a complaint against it was filed at Mulund police station by Dr Rajshekhar Ujgare, a Mulund resident. In his complaint, Dr. Ujgare alleged a man claiming to represent the insurance company he uses had called, saying he was eligible for a bonus of more than ₹9 lakh on his insurance policy.

DCP (Zone VII) Akhilesh Singh said, “The caller had authentic details about the complainant’s policy, which led the latter to believe him. He said Dr. Ujgare needs to pay a certain amount as processing fee. Between September 2017 to May 18 this year, the complainant ended up paying ₹4 lakh to the accused, before suspecting that he was being duped.”

Cellphones tracked

The police placed the numbers used by the accused under electronic surveillance, and tracked two of the accused to Thane.

Their interrogation led the police to the other five accused, who were on a picnic in Guhagar when the police team landed up.

A team of policemen picked them up from Guhagar and brought them to Mumbai, after which all the accused were placed under arrest, officers said.

Mr Singh said, “The accused used to work for a call centre earlier, which had a life insurance company as its client. They obtained data of the company's clients at the time, and after quitting their job, started the racket.”

He added that the gang was working out of an office in Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai. They have committed at least 22 such offences all over Maharashtra and we are obtaining more details, Mr. Singh said.

The accused have been identified as Rakesh Shinde, Ramesh Ugale, Murlidhar Deshmukh, Kumar Malusare, Akash Chikhale, Rajesh Magdum and Sanjay Mankar.

They were charged with cheating and impersonation under the IPC and produced in court on Wednesday, which remanded them in police custody till June 1.