Trucker kills friend to fake his own death for insurance, loan waiver in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD: In a chilling case, straight out of a crime thriller in Gujarat’s Surat district, Sachin area police have cracked what initially looked like a hit-and-run accident but was a cold-blooded murder plotted for insurance money and debt relief.
A debt-ridden truck owner, inspired by a TV serial, crushed a friend under his truck to fake his death, in a plan to vanish and start afresh with his wife in another city.
On July 14, police discovered the disfigured body of a pedestrian, later identified as Shivkumar alias Maharaj Ramnarayan Mishra on Surat's Saniya-Khambhasla road.
With the victim’s face mangled beyond recognition, the case was initially filed as an accidental death. Police relied on clothing and a mobile phone found on the body to determine the identity and began scanning CCTV footage to trace the vehicle involved.
Yet, there was no sign of an accident near the scene. Instead, a tip led police to suspect foul play after locals recalled seeing the supposed deceased with another man on a moped before the “accident.”
When officers visited Shiv’s home, his wife Meenadevi's eerie calm and a question about his ₹2 lakh LIC insurance payout instantly raised suspicion.
She showed no grief and casually asked if the claim could be processed, triggering a deeper inquiry. Tracking one missing SIM card from Shiv’s phone and matching it with the truck’s GPS, police noticed that Shiv had travelled to Kadodara-Bardoli Road on the day of the incident.
At a petrol pump near Sarvottam Hotel, a sequence of Shiv’s movements was uncovered from fueling up to driving towards Saniya-Khambhasla road, where the murder was executed.
As CCTV trails and mobile location data converged, police traced Shiv to Pune. To their shock, the "dead" man was alive. He was arrested along with his friend Monu Gautam. During interrogation, Shiv confessed to the crime.
Facing a ₹2 lakh debt and loan EMIs for a second truck, he plotted to fake his death and get insurance money. His victim: a 10-year-old acquaintance, Deviprasad Shivprasad Pal, lived alone. Shiv lured his friend on his moped to a petrol station, forced him to consume liquor until he turned unconscious. He then dressed him in his clothes and planted his phone and wallet in his friend's pockets.
He then drove to the secluded Saniya-Khambhasla road, laid the friend's body under the rear tire, and crushed his face by rolling the truck over him two to three times to obliterate any chance of identification.
After the killing, Shiv abandoned the truck and took a rickshaw to Udhna station. He loitered with a platform ticket, then used a ₹30 BRTS bus pass to travel the city and avoid CCTV tracking.
From Bhestan, he bought a basic phone, activated his second SIM, and called Monu in Pune. Later, through a conference call with his wife, he revealed the staged death plan, instructing her to claim the body and insurance while he fled to Pune by luxury bus.
Sachin police, led by ACP Niravsinh Gohil, arrested Shiv, Meenadevi, and Monu. The trio has been remanded until July 25. Shiv’s heinous act of crushing a friend to impersonate a corpse has sent shockwaves across Gujarat.
What was once seen as a tragic accident is now etched as a chilling reminder of how debt and desperation, when mixed with criminal intent, can turn monstrous.