Gujarat man gets wife killed in road 'accident' to claim insurance

PALANPUR: A chartered accountant from Gujarat's Banaskantha district has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife and making it look like a road accident in order to claim Rs 60 lakh as insurance, police said on Saturday.

Bhildi police station had, on December 26 last year, registered a accidental death case after a woman, identified as Dakshben Tank, died after being hit by a vehicle, an official said. "After the woman's kin raised some suspicions, we started a deeper probe and found, through surveillance and call data analysis, that she was murdered. Her husband Lalit Tank had paid one Kirit Mali Rs 2 lakh to make the murder look like an accident. Tank wanted to claim Rs 60 lakh as insurance from a policy taken just three months before," he said.

"On the morning of December 26, Lalit, while taking his wife to a temple, shared his location with an accused driver. Lalit ensured he was maintaining a considerable distance while walking. The vehicle hit Dakshaben at high speed, killing her on the spot," he said.

The official said that Lalit was arrested on Friday while hunt for others was underway.