Telangana government staffer fakes death to claim insurance money

MEDAK: It seems like a plot straight out of a crime fiction novel. A government employee faked his death to claim an insurance amount of Rs 6 crore but ended up getting caught. Based on the recently unearthed evidence, Medak police arrested him on Tuesday.

Riddled with twists and turns, the police found that Maloth Dharma staged his death in a car mishap on January 9. The police are now trying to identify the charred body that was found in the car. Police said Dharma, who wanted to swindle an insurance company, had planned the crime about six months ago.

He took an insurance policy for Rs 6 crore and paid the premium regularly. However, the police found out that he was alive when he called his wife to procure his death certificate on January 12 for claiming the insurance amount.

Dharma works an assistant section officer in the State Secretariat in Hyderabad. He hails from Bhimla thanda of Venkatapur village. On January 7, he went to his village in a car by hiring a driver. He left from the village on January 8  after telling his wife that he was leaving for Hyderabad.

On January 9, a car in flames was found near the village. After receiving information from the locals, police rushed to the spot and found the charred remains of a body in the car.After inquiry, they came to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased person was Dharma and registered a case accordingly.

At the time of registering the case, his wife and his younger brother identified the body as that of Dharma.
Later on the police, on suspicion, kept watch on the movements of Dharma’s wife and tracked her phone.
Three days ago, Dharma called his wife and advised her to get a death certificate from the gram panchayat office and submit it for a claim in the insurance company.

The police found the development fishy and detained Dharma’s wife and his younger brother and interrogated them. They then confessed that on January 9 they made a show that Dharma died in the car blaze. After faking his death, Dharma fled to Pune.

District Police Superintendent (SP) Rohini Priyadarshini said on Tuesday that the accused Dharma has been taken into custody and is being interrogated. She said the remaining details about the identity of the car driver and who else had a role in the crime will be revealed on Wednesday.

According to her, Dharma dreamed up the plot to make quick money after losing Rs 1.25 crore in online games which he raised as loans. Dharma and his wife used to quarrel over the mounting debts and how they could wriggle out of the mess.