The Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) recently arrested an advocate from Dharapuram on the charge of defrauding ₹3.75 lakh, which a court had ordered to be given to a couple as compensation for the death of their son in an accident.
Murugesan (57), who used to practise at Dharapuram sub-court, was arrested by a team headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police P. Sivakumar from Mylapore on January 8.
According to the CB-CID investigators, Murugesan produced two persons, who impersonated as the parents of the accident victim, before the court apart from making alterations in the documents related to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Original Petition (MCOP) case with the help of a man who worked as head clerk atthe Dharapuram sub-court.
Officials said that a 22-year-old man Shanmugasundaram was killed in an accident involving a TNSTC bus in Tiruppur district in 2011. His parents Balasubramanian and Eswari filed an MCOP petition before the Dharapuram sub-court seeking compensation. The court in 2015 ordered to give ₹3.75 lakh as compensation to the parents.
The CB-CID said that Murugesan with the help of Baskaran, former head clerk at the court, made changes in the original petition. They removed photos of the accident victim’s parents in the petition and affixed that of a man and a woman who impersonated as the parents. The accused received the compensation after the completion of various formalities.
The parents of the victim lodged a petition before the court in 2019 stating that they did not receive the compensation even after four years. Following this, Murugesan handed over the money to the parents.
However, the court took note of the seriousness of the forgery and cheating and a case was registered based on a complaint lodged by M. Dharmaprabhu, subordinate judge, Dharapuram.
Though, Murugesan obtained an anticipatory bail, the judge appealed in the Madras High Court against the anticipatory bail and it was quashed.
The High Court directed the CB-CID to investigate the case based on which a first information report was registered on December 31, 2021.
Investigators said that Baskaran was already arrested in the case and the CB-CID was on the look out for the two accused who posed as the accident victim’s parents. The investigators are also checking whether the accused had defrauded compensation in other MCOP cases.
