CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths of Greater Chennai Police arrested six people and busted a fake vehicle insurance racket, accused of cheating people to the tune of several lakhs of rupees, on Monday. Police seized gold jewels weighing about 1.06 kg, several property documents, Rs 9.5 lakh in cash, a car, phones and laptops from them.
They have been identified as Mariappan (40), M Sumathi (29), Anand Senthurapandi (40), Senthil Kumar Sengamalam (47), Ansar Ali (43), and Jain Alavudin (40). According to the police, Mariappan ran an office in Tirunelveli to get fake insurance policies.
The gang found loopholes within the existing technology and misused it for their gains. While almost all insurance firms, both government and private, have introduced the option of buying two-wheeler and private car policies by applying either on the website or through online markets, the accused generated fake credentials and sold them as policies of commercial vehicles. “They would enter a commercial vehicle’s registration number, but term it as two-wheeler,” said a police officer.
The gang attracted the victims by charging about Rs 16,000 as the annual premium while the actual premium ranged between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000. “The gang made about Rs 15,000 for each policy,” said the officer.
United India, an insurance firm, recently came across fake policies under its name and approached the city police. Though the gang claims to have cheated about 300 persons, the police suspect that the number could be more. City Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said that such fraudulent activities would prevent victims from getting compensation.