'Gang' In Western UP Insuring Persons On Deathbed; Police Uncooperative: HDFC Life Submits Before Allahabad High Court

The company also submitted that, despite complaints, in most of these cases, the Police do not cooperate by conducting a fair investigation to bring the culprit to justice.

The submission was made before a bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, which had recently taken serious note of the trend of life insurance policies being issued to persons on their "deathbed" through middlemen.

It may be noted that the single judge is presently hearing the bail application of one Nawab Ali alias Nawabuddin, who has been booked for the offences of Cheating, Forgery and Criminal Conspiracy under the BNS for allegedly usurping half of a Rs 9.6 lakh insurance payout from a deceased policyholder's widow.

Before the HC, the accused had claimed that, as per the agreement, he had borne the expenses for obtaining the health insurance from the HDFC Life Insurance Company, and that, as a result, the applicant had taken “liaisoning money”, which is half of the total ensured amount.

In view of this submission, the bench had called upon the Branch Manager of HDFC Life to appear in person and explain whether, while granting an insurance policy, they charge any amount for processing or service charges.

Pursuant to that order, on March 11, the Branch appeared before the HC and submitted that for the issuance of a life insurance policy, no charge in the name of a process fee was taken from the policyholder.

In fact, the counsel representing HDFC Life Insurance apprised the bench that a gang is operating in Western UP, which, after searching a person on their deathbed, manipulates to obtain life insurance through different insurance companies, including HDFC Life Insurance Ltd.

The bench was further apprised that even in some cases, whenever the investigators go for physical verification, they were also threatened by the gang members.

It was also submitted that while HDFC Life has lodged FIRs regarding these forged documents and deathbed policies, the police do not cooperate in conducting fair investigations

Taking a strict view of the widespread fraud, the Court directed the State to seek instructions on whether any investigator or employee of HDFC Life Insurance is directly involved in the present case or other similar scams.

Regarding the merits of the case, the Court perused the compliance affidavit filed by the Sub-Inspector, which revealed that Rs 4.8 lakhs from the widow's insurance payout was transferred directly to the account of Mrs Ruksi Anjum, the wife of the accused-applicant.

The Court also noted that the Bank statement pertaining to the widow revealed further 49 suspicious withdrawals of Rs 10,000 each. The State alleged that the applicant had operated the widow's bank account by obtaining a SIM card in her name and linking it to the account.

However, the State could not explain who executed the 49 separate cash withdrawals. Consequently, the High Court granted the State time to obtain specific instructions on whether the widow's statement had been recorded regarding these specific transactions.

The High Court has also asked the IO of the case to appear personally before the Court, along with all relevant records, on the next date of hearing (March 25).