Woman constable among five held for defrauding retired govt official

Noida, November 8

A woman constable of Uttar Pradesh Police was among five persons arrested over a Rs 52 lakh fraud with a Greater Noida resident on the pretext of renewing his lapsed insurance policy, the police said on Tuesday.

Forged stamps of the Union Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India were also recovered from the gang, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Abhishek Verma said.

Those held have been identified as Deepak Kumar, his wife Priyanka, Jitendra, Vishal Tyagi and Harendra Krishna, he said.

Deepak is the kingpin of the gang, police said.

Priyanka is currently posted as a constable in Shamli district of western Uttar Pradesh and the role of some other policemen in Saharanpur district is also under investigation the IPS officer said.

According to the police, Ashok Kumar Sharma (75), a retired government official, had purchased an insurance policy six years ago but due to certain financial conditions could not continue it, following which it lapsed.

“Around two years ago, he started getting phone calls by people who identified themselves as representatives of insurance companies and the RBI and told him that his insurance policy could be revived. They also told him that the fund in his insurance has increased to Rs 1.20 crore, which he will be able to get,” a police official said.

“One of the representatives kept in regular touch with Sharma and sent him forged documents over WhatsApp, which had letters bearing seals of the Finance Ministry, the RBI, etc. However, Sharma was asked on multiple occasions to transfer funds on pretext of processing charges, etc. For over two years, the retired officer ended up transferring Rs 52 lakh in total to them in hope of getting his insurance money,” the official said.