E-Paper
Latur man fakes own death, kills another for ₹1 crore insurance payout
After arriving at the scene, police found a charred body inside, which they assumed was Ganesh Chavan. However, they would later discover that he was alive.
A man from Maharashtra's Latur was arrested after he allegedly murdered a man to fake his own death. The reason behind the crime? A life insurance payout of ₹1 crore.
As per a report by PTI, the man was driven to commit the crime due to his debts, which amounted to ₹57 lakhs.
On Saturday, police had been alerted about a burning car in the Ausa tehsil. After arriving at the scene, police found a charred body inside, which they assumed belonged to the man - Ganesh Chavan.
"Chavan's wife told police he had left home at around 10 pm on December 13 to give a laptop to a friend and had not returned. The body in the car was identified as his with the help of a bracelet at the site," Superintendent of Police in Latur Amol Tambe told reporters.
However, the top cop added that on suspicion, police launched another probe and found out that Chavan was alive and hiding in Sindhudurg.
Cops further added that Chavan picked up 50-year-old Govind Kishan Yadav who had sought a lift till Ausa Fort in an inebriated condition.
"They stopped at an eatery and then drove towards the Vanavada Pati-Vanavada road. After parking the car, Yadav ate some food and soon fell asleep inside the vehicle," said police official were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Chavan then allegedly dragged the drunk man to the driver's seat, fastened the seatbelt, placed matchsticks and plastic bags on the seat to set them on fire.
He also left the petrol tank cap open to ensure the blaze caught quickly.
After fleeing the scene, Chavan "walked to Tuljapur Mode, travelled to Kolhapur by a private bus, and then proceeded to Vijaydurg in Sindhudurg," said cops.
Cops added that Chavan's debt of ₹57 lakhs had added immense pressure on the man, which led him to commit murder.
"He had taken an ₹1 crore term insurance policy three years ago and was burdened with loans amounting to around ₹57 lakh. To ensure that his family received the insurance money and his debts were wiped out, he planned either to commit suicide or kill someone else to get the insurance amount," the official told PTI.
Chavan has been arrested and charged with murder, destruction of property and destruction of evidence among other charges.
(With inputs from PTI)
