Representative image of an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Latur: A Latur resident was arrested for allegedly murdering a man and then burning his body inside a car in order to fake his own death to claim insurance of Rs 1 crore, a police official said on Monday.
The man came up with this plan as he had debts of Rs 57 lakh, Superintendent of Police Amol Tambe told reporters.
"On Saturday, police were alerted about a car burning on Vanavada Pati-Vanavada road in Ausa tehsil. A man was found burnt to death inside. An accidental death case was registered. A probe found the car belonged to one Baliram Gangadhar Rathod of Ausa Tanda and was being used by his brother-in-law Ganesh Gopinath Chavan," the official said.
"Chavan's wife told police he had left home at around 10 pm on December 13 to give a laptop to a friend and had not returned. The body in the car was identified as his with the help of a bracelet at the site. However, based on suspicion, a Crime Branch team probed further and found that Chavan was alive and was in hiding in Sindhudurg district," he said.
Chavan told police he was under severe financial stress for the past several months.
"He had taken an Rs 1 crore term insurance policy three years ago and was burdened with loans amounting to around Rs 57 lakh. To ensure that his family received the insurance money and his debts were wiped out, he planned either to commit suicide or kill someone else to get the insurance amount," the official said.
On Saturday, he left home, reached Yakatpur Road Chowk in Ausa and picked up Govind Kishan Yadav (50), who had sought a lift till Ausa Fort in an inebriated condition, the official said.
"They stopped at an eatery and then drove towards the Vanavada Pati-Vanavada road. After parking the car, Yadav ate some food and soon fell asleep inside the vehicle. Chavan then dragged him into the driver's seat, fastened the seatbelt, placed matchsticks and plastic bags on the seat and set them on fire," the official said.
"Chavan left the petrol tank cap open to ensure the car caught fire quickly, and fled the scene. He later walked to Tuljapur Mode, travelled to Kolhapur by a private bus, and then proceeded to Vijaydurg in Sindhudurg. Chavan has been charged with murder, destruction of evidence, and other offences," the SP said.
He was held within 24 hours of the crime, Tambe said.