New Delhi, March 11 A former Indian Army soldier, along with two others, has been booked for making a fraudulent death claim to secure insurance benefits worth Rs 3 lakh from the Army Group Insurance Fund.
According to an FIR registered on March 6, the case pertains to a claim made in 2011 under the Extended Insurance Scheme of the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF).
Police said the accused include ex-sepoy Akhilesh Kumar, his wife Gyanti Devi, and Sohan Pandit, the then sarpanch of Kako in Bihar's Jehanabad district, who allegedly issued and attested a fake death certificate.
The FIR has been registered under sections 420 (Cheating and thereby dishonestly inducing delivery of property, or the making, alteration or destruction of a valuable security), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC.
According to the complaint, Kumar was enrolled in the Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army on January 2, 1998, and was discharged from service on October 5, 2010. He had completed 12 years and eight months of service and was not entitled to a service pension.
Kumar had nominated his wife Gyanti Devi and later his son Deepak Kumar to receive insurance benefits in the event of his death. In November 2011, Devi submitted an Extended Insurance certificate claiming that her husband died on September 17, 2011, due to an electric shock.
Police said she later submitted supporting documents, including a death certificate issued by the village sarpanch (Pandit), an affidavit, an indemnity bond, family details, and bank account details, to the Army Group Insurance Fund Directorate in May 2013 to process the claim.
Based on these documents, the AGIF released the insurance amount of Rs 3 lakh in June 2013 to Devi's bank account. An amount of Rs 21,750 was later paid as interest for delayed payment, the FIR read.
However, during a subsequent verification carried out by the superintendent of police, Jehanabad (Bihar), it was found that Kumar was alive, and the death claim submitted to obtain the insurance benefits was fraudulent.
Following the findings, the Delhi-based AGIF sought legal action and requested registration of an FIR to recover the money and initiate criminal proceedings against those involved in the alleged fraud.
Police said the case was registered as per the complaint and on the direction of a Delhi court. An investigation has been launched, and a probe into the matter is underway, they added.