Insurance Mafia: UP Police Nab 67th Suspect

The Sambhal Police have struck another blow against a sprawling inter-state insurance fraud syndicate, arresting Pankaj Kumar Dhali on Wednesday, bringing the total arrests to 67 in the past six months. Dubbed the "insurance mafia," the network has swindled over ₹100 crore through fraudulent personal loans and insurance claims, using forged documents and stolen identities across at least 12 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Haryana.

Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Kumar Vishnoi, addressing a press conference, detailed Dhali’s role in orchestrating scams involving fabricated identities. Police seized 33 PAN cards, 28 Aadhaar cards, and 39 cheque books from his possession, exposing the scale of the operation. Unlike earlier cases involving murders staged as accidents to claim payouts, Dhali’s scheme focused on exploiting living individuals’ identities. In one case, Dhali used the identity of Dharmendra, a Delhi daily wage laborer, falsely portraying him as an employee of a shell company, "Falon Case Lab Pvt Ltd," to secure fraudulent loans of ₹12.5 lakh and ₹5 lakh. Dharmendra, unaware and alive, was targeted without his knowledge.

A previously arrested suspect, Shahrukh, had taken out ₹90 lakh in insurance policies in Dharmendra’s name across multiple companies, including ICICI Prudential and SBI Life, and forged a death certificate from GB Pant Hospital to claim payouts. Shahrukh’s arrest in February 2025 marked a turning point, unraveling the syndicate’s tactics. Dhali also misrepresented individuals from Punjab (Gurdaspur), Uttarakhand (Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar), and Uttar Pradesh (Bareilly, Baghpat, Moradabad) as employees of his fake company, defrauding insurers and banks on a massive scale.

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The scam, first exposed in January 2025 after police intercepted a vehicle with ₹11.45 lakh in cash and forged documents, has led to 17 FIRs, including four for murder. The gang targeted terminally ill or deceased individuals, forging medical records and death certificates to claim payouts, sometimes staging deaths as accidents.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now probing the racket, with 52 arrests and an 800-page chargesheet filed against 11 key accused, including Omkareshwar Mishra and Shivendra Kumar, as of April 2025. The investigation, led by Additional SP Anukriti Sharma, continues to uncover links to ASHA workers, hospital staff, and insurance insiders.

SP Vishnoi emphasized, “This is one of the most sophisticated fraud networks we’ve encountered, spanning 12 states. We’re working with insurance companies and the ED to ensure justice.” With 50 suspects still absconding, the probe promises more revelations as police dismantle this multi-crore racket.

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