Telangana official kills man, fakes death to claim insurance money
What's the story
An assistant section officer (ASO) of the Telangana government allegedly faked his own death to claim insurance funds of over Rs. 7 crore, PTI reported.
The police said that he, along with his wife and two relatives, allegedly killed a man that resembled the ASO for their plan.
The official along with four others was arrested on Wednesday in Medak district.
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Accused planned the murder with his relatives, wife
According to media reports, the accused suffered losses in the stock market to the tune of approximately Rs. 85 lakh.
In order to recover from the losses, he reportedly hatched a plan with his relatives and wife and murdered a man to fake his own death to claim the insurance money, the police revealed.
Information
Accused bought 25 insurance policies worth Rs. 7.4 crore
The Telangana officer and others planned to kill an individual resembling him to claim the insurance money. Accordingly, he bought 25 insurance policies worth nearly Rs 7.4 crore in his name over the last year, police revealed.
Details
Police earlier filed a case for suspicious death
Earlier, a case was filed for a suspicious death, and a probe was ordered after a man's charred body was found in a burnt car on the outskirts of the district's Venkatapur village.
Initially, the government official was believed to be the deceased individual based on the ID card recovered in a bag from the victim.
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Here's how the Telangana official planned the murder
However, police eventually found the employee was still alive and had "faked" his death to claim the insurance amount.
Police said that the accused asked a man near Nizamabad railway station, who resembled him, to accompany him and another person on January 8.
The duo made the man wear the ASO officer's clothes, shave his hair, and was then taken to Venkatapur village.
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The accused attacked the victim with an axe: Cops
The accused then allegedly poured petrol inside and all over the vehicle and asked the victim to sit in the front row of the vehicle.
When the victim denied doing so, the accused duo attacked him with an axe and killed him.
After the murder, the police said the accused put the victim's body inside the vehicle and set it on fire.
Official data
Details on Telangana's overall crime rate
In December last year, Telangana DGP M Mahender Reddy revealed that the state's overall crime increased by 4.4% since 2021.
As per the state police, murders went down by 12.5% in 2022.
While murders for profit also decreased by 52%, dacoity reduced by nearly 35% last year in Telangana.
Meanwhile, culpable homicide cases went down by 47% in 2022.