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Man ‘orchestrated’ father’s death for ₹39-cr claim: Cops
A 35-year-old man was arrested in Meerut for a ₹39-crore insurance fraud linked to his father's suspicious death, with police investigating other family deaths.
Meerut: A 35-year-old man was on Monday arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district over his alleged involvement in a ₹39-crore insurance fraud connected to the suspicious death of his father, police said, adding that one aide of the accused has also been arrested.
Mukesh Singhal (55), the father of key accused Vishal Kumar (35), had held 60 insurance policies with multiple companies, and their combined worth was ₹39 crore, police said, adding all the polices were taken in two years before Singhal’s death in 2024.
“Vishal has already received around ₹1 crore in claims against his father’s death from some insurance companies,” said Devendra Bisht, SHO, Hapur Nagar police station, where an FIR was registered on Sunday based on a complaint from Sanjay Kumar, a representative of an insurance company.
Besides suspecting him of orchestrating his father’s death, police are also looking into the suspicious deaths of Vishal’s mother and wife in the last few years and staging them as accidents to secure insurance funds.
Vishal was the nominated beneficiary of his deceased father.
Mukesh, a photographer, who lived in Meerut’s Ganganagar area, hailed from Hapur. Despite his declared annual income of ₹12 lakh to ₹15 lakh, the total insurance claims amounted to approximately ₹39 crore, police said.
According to the police complaint, Vishal had claimed that his father died in a road accident while returning to Meerut from Garhmukteshwar on March 27, 2024. He claimed that his father was initially admitted to a nearby hospital, and later shifted to a hospital in Meerut, where he died.
However, hospital records contradicted his claims that the accident occurred during the day, indicating it actually occurred at night. The injuries that the accused described did not match his father’s post-mortem report, suggesting possible foul play, police officers said.
Confirming the arrests of Vishal and his friend Satish Kumar, additional superintendent of police (ASP) Vineet Bhatnagar said, “The police suspect that Vishal may have been involved in the murders of his family members to fraudulently obtain insurance payouts.”
Police are also probing the total premium amount that was being paid for the 60 policies. “Details regarding the total premium paid for all these policies will be compiled during the course of the investigation,” the ASP added.
Vishal allegedly failed to cooperate with the insurance company’s investigation, withholding key documents. The complainant has also accused him of attempting to bribe an investigating officer and witnesses to provide favourable statements. Discrepancies were also found in Vishal’s Aadhaar and PAN details regarding his age, and no details were provided about the vehicle allegedly involved in the accident or its registration, the complaint alleged.
Vishal’s mother, Prabha Devi, died in an alleged road accident in Hapur’s Pilkhuwa while riding pillion on a motorcycle with him on June 21, 2017. After her death, Vishal reportedly received ₹80 lakh in insurance claims, the SHO cited above said, adding he also got ₹30 lakh in insurance payout following his wife’s death a few years ago.
Police are now probing his role in the deaths of his mother and wife as well, officers said, adding that Vishal’s friend Satish Kumar was arrested from Modinagar in Meerut in connection with the alleged fraud.
Further investigation is underway, police said.
