1 more arrested for insurance fraud

Gurgaon: The special task force (STF) of Haryana Police arrested a Karnal resident on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in an insurance scam targeting cancer patients. The accused, identified as Sumit (31), tried to claim Rs 1 crore as insurance for the demise of his father who was suffering from cancer by showing it as an “accidental death”, police said. He, according to police, connived with the gang’s kingpin, Pawan Bhoriya.
On Monday, STF had arrested two computer operators – Pramod (32) and Pradeep (30) - for allegedly removing medical records in PGIMS, Rohtak and Civil Hospital, Sonipat of cancer patients who were insured by the gang. All the three accused were produced in a city court on Tuesday and sent to four-day police remand.

According to STF, Sumit, a resident of Ballah village in Karnal, took Rs 1 lakh from Pawan. His father succumbed to cancer in December last year. But, he got an FIR registered at Gannaur police station saying that his father died in a motocycle accident. Following this, he went to five insurance companies to make the claim. However, he was caught before he got the money, police said.

STF is now investigating the role of officers of Gannaur police station. While several doctors, policemen and hospital employees are under the scanner of STF, sources said that over 7 doctors of Civil Hospitals in Sonepat and Hisar have been identified.

STF officers said that they will investigate Sumit to get more details on the modus operandi of the gang. “The arrested accused claimed that Pawan lured him in the racket by offering him Rs 10 lakh. He agreed to be a part of the scam when he was given Rs 1 lakh in advance. When his father died, he contacted Pawan. He was then asked to go to Sonepat with the deceased’s body,” a senior investigator said.

“It’s a big web and we have many suspects on the list, including families of deceased patients, some doctors and hospital administration employees,” said Rahul Dev, DSP of STF.