Police have arrested nine people, including a government medical officer and four policemen, for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently claim insurance money by falsely portraying a man’s death as the result of a road accident in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, officials said.
According to investigators, the accused attempted to obtain an insurance payout of Rs50 lakh by fabricating documents and creating a fake accident narrative related to the death of Rajendra Shalindar Jadhav.
Police revealed that Jadhav had actually died in 2024 due to a severe liver ailment. However, his family members and associates allegedly tried to mislead insurance companies by claiming that he died in a road accident in 2025.
The fraud surfaced in Chalisgaon, where the group reportedly planned to obtain the insurance amount by submitting forged documents and staging a false accident claim.
Fake accident story
The insurance claim was filed by Jadhav’s wife, Aruna Jadhav, who stated that her husband was travelling on a motorcycle from Dahiwad to Malegaon when an SUV allegedly hit his vehicle. According to the claim, he suffered serious injuries and was taken to Chalisgaon Rural Hospital, where he died during treatment.
Based on this claim, an accident case was initially registered at Mehunbare Police Station.
However, when the insurance company began verifying the claim, officials found several inconsistencies in the documents and statements. Further investigation revealed that Rajendra Jadhav had actually died on February 23, 2024, and the cause of death was severe liver disease rather than a road accident.
Authorities also discovered that his death was not recorded in the local gram panchayat records, even though the date of death was displayed on a photograph kept in his home.
During the probe, investigators learned that multiple insurance policies had been taken in Jadhav’s name from nearly 10 different companies. This raised suspicion of a larger conspiracy to claim insurance payouts using a fabricated accident story.
Nine accused arrested
Following a detailed investigation, police registered a fraud case and arrested several individuals allegedly involved in the conspiracy. Those arrested include government medical officer Mandar Karamblekar, police personnel Mahendra Patil, Sunil Nikam, Ravindra Battise, and Sachin Nikam, along with the deceased’s brother Mithun Jadhav.
Two insurance agents, Praveen Patil and Prem Patil, were also arrested for their alleged role in the fraud.
Police believe the accused planned to claim nearly Rs7.5 crore from multiple insurance companies using the same fraudulent method.
Officials said the scam was exposed after an insurance officer carefully scrutinized the claim and noticed several discrepancies, which eventually led to the investigation and arrests.
