Fake death certificate scam spreads to 7 Haryana districts

Sanjay Yadav

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Gurugram, June 25

The ongoing investigation into the fake death certificate and insurance scam has pointed to its spread in at least 7 districts of Haryana, including Nuh, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Jhajjar, Faridabad, Hisar and Ambala.

The local health department and police have so far unearthed fake certificates issued for Nuh and Yamunanagar residents from Gurugram. The police suspect it to be a state-wide insurance scam that thrived during the second Covid wave.

“We have found fake death certificates of residents of other districts being issued from here. Local health departments have been alerted with special emphasis on Sohna block in Gurugram (13 of the 14 complaints of fake death certificates have been received from Sohna). We are seeking details of the current and former employees of the health department,” said CMO Virender Yadav.

The health department is looking into the local records.

Meanwhile, the police are also investigating the recent case of a fake death certificate. A senior police officer said that in the case of Faridabad-based Manav Rachna educational institute director Prashant Bhalla’s fake death certificate, an unknown woman had opened an account in the name of Dr Bhalla’s wife Deepika Bhalla in HDFC Bank.

“The woman opened the account in the HDFC’s Palam Vihar branch in May. She had submitted a copy of the Aadhaar card, driving licence and PAN card. We are reviewing the CCTV footage to identify the woman and our two teams are investigating the matter. We hope that the accused will be arrested soon,” said Preet Pal Singh Sangwan, ACP, Crime.