Insurance fraud: 2 held for deleting medical records

Gurgaon: Haryana Special Task Force (STF) arrested two computer operators of PGIMS, Rohtak, and Civil hospital, Sonipat, on Monday for their alleged involvement in the insurance scam targetting cancer patients.
The duo allegedly removed medical records of cancer patients who were insured by the gang.

Police said the gang would first source contact details of cancer patients admitted in the hospitals and provide them insurance. After their deaths, the gang would delete all their treatment records from the hospitals’ database. Further, police added, they could get FIRs registered in various police stations for fake road accidents, which helped them get the insurance money in connivance with the patients’ families.

The arrested duo have named hopital staffers, officials and police officers who were involved in the racket but STF did not reveal the names. STF officers said that many others might be involved in the racket but they would be arrested only after their roles had been verified.

According to a senior investigator of STF, kingpin Pawan Bhoriya has admitted to over two dozen fraud cases, so far. The majority of these cases are from Rohtak, Sonepat, Hisar and Jhajjar. Bhoriya served as a manager of Reliance Insurance, Panipat, for eight years.

Meanwhile, STF is now probing the role of former SHOs and doctors in the racket. “We suspect the involvement of several other people from the hospitals. The investigation is on and we shall nab the other accused soon,” said DSP Rahul Dev of STF.

Earlier, three of the fraudsters — Pawan Bhoriya, Mohit and Vikas — had been taken on six days police remand and sources said that they had revealed the names of the two computer operators.

STF officers said that the arrested duo also confessed to their crimes. The accused told STF that they made admit cards for the cancer patients, notifying them as accident victims, and after their postmortem, cleaned all their actual medical records.

A senior STF officer said that the doctors, who conducted the cancer patients’ postmortem, were also under the scanner. “Today, we have arrested two computer operators. This is a big scam and many of the hospitals’ employees and policemen are involved. The case demands a thorough investigation,” added Rahul Dev.