Police have arrested a 54-year-old man for allegedly faking his death to claim the insurance money worth $5 million from a firm in the US .
The man killed a mentally unstable man in Ahmadnagar district of Maharashtra using a snake and later submitted his death certificate bearing his name to the US firm for the money.
Four other persons have also been arrested for helping in executing the killing. The incident was reported in Rajur village in Akole tehsil of the Ahmednagar district in April this year.
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Manoj Patil, Superintendent of Police, Ahmednagar, said the main accused Prabhakar Waghchoure had lived with his family in the US for the last 20 years and killed the man for a life insurance worth $5 million from the American firm.
He came to India in January 2021 and started living at his in-laws’ place at Dhamangaon Pat, a village in the Ahmednagar district, and later hatched a conspiracy to kill a mentally unstable man. He was allegedly assisted in the crime by Sandip Talekar, Harshad Lahamage, Harish Kulal, and Prashant Choudhary who he promised share of the money.
Waghchoure moved to Rajur village and started living at a rented accommodation and with other accused obtained a snake to bite the deceased. The accused rushed the man to a hospital and posed as the kin of the deceased and registered his name as Prabhakar Waghchoure.
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They procured the death certificate and other legal documents and sent them to the USA, where his son filed for insurance and performed the last rites of the deceased in India.
The US-based firm grew suspicious as Waghchoure had tried to cheat them in the past as well and sent investigators to India to verify the claim and approached the police.
All five people including Waghchoure were arrested. They were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder. (AW)
