<p>Udupi: The police in Udupi district have unearthed a major school bus insurance racket operating across several educational institutions in the coastal region.</p><p>Two individuals, including a former insurance company employee, have been arrested for allegedly fabricating and circulating fake vehicle insurance policies.<br><br>The case came to light following an accident reported on November 25, 2024, at Hunshemakki, Hombady–Mandady village in Kundapura taluk, when a school bus collided with an autorickshaw. A case had been registered at the Kota Police Station under Sections 281 and 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).<br><br>During the course of an insurance claim verification linked to a motor vehicle compensation case pending before the Kundapura Sessions Court, the insurance company discovered that the insurance policy submitted for the school bus was fake. The policy had been fabricated and used to mislead both the police and the court.</p><p><br>Following a complaint lodged by Nikhil G R, manager of Reliance General Insurance, on September 4, another case was registered at the Kota Police Station under Sections 318(4), 336(2), 336(4), and 340(2) of the BNS.<br><br>Under the guidance of circle police inspector Gopi Krishna and the supervision of police sub-inspector Praveen Kumar R, a special investigation team was formed. Acting swiftly, the police arrested Rakesh S (33) of Sasthana, Brahmavar, on September 6. During interrogation, Rakesh confessed that he had colluded with Charan Babu Mesta, an SDO at Reliance General Insurance Company, to issue fake insurance policies to several schools and colleges in Kundapura, Kota, Brahmavar, Shiroor, and Bhatkal.</p><p>Investigators later arrested Charan Babu Mesta, and he was subsequently remanded in police custody for further interrogation, which revealed that the duo had defrauded multiple educational institutions by collecting insurance premiums while providing them forged policy documents.<br></p><p>The police said both the accused had previously worked at the same insurance firm. They retained old genuine policy documents in PDF format, used editing applications to alter key details such as policy number, vehicle registration number, and insurance amount, and then circulated the altered documents as genuine ones.</p><p>Preliminary investigation indicated that the suspects jointly created as many as 86 insurance policies, out of which 29 were fake, while Charan alone fabricated 17 fake policies out of the 111 he had issued — totaling 46 fake school and college vehicle policies across Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts.</p>
<p>Udupi: The police in Udupi district have unearthed a major school bus insurance racket operating across several educational institutions in the coastal region.</p><p>Two individuals, including a former insurance company employee, have been arrested for allegedly fabricating and circulating fake vehicle insurance policies.<br><br>The case came to light following an accident reported on November 25, 2024, at Hunshemakki, Hombady–Mandady village in Kundapura taluk, when a school bus collided with an autorickshaw. A case had been registered at the Kota Police Station under Sections 281 and 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).<br><br>During the course of an insurance claim verification linked to a motor vehicle compensation case pending before the Kundapura Sessions Court, the insurance company discovered that the insurance policy submitted for the school bus was fake. The policy had been fabricated and used to mislead both the police and the court.</p><p><br>Following a complaint lodged by Nikhil G R, manager of Reliance General Insurance, on September 4, another case was registered at the Kota Police Station under Sections 318(4), 336(2), 336(4), and 340(2) of the BNS.<br><br>Under the guidance of circle police inspector Gopi Krishna and the supervision of police sub-inspector Praveen Kumar R, a special investigation team was formed. Acting swiftly, the police arrested Rakesh S (33) of Sasthana, Brahmavar, on September 6. During interrogation, Rakesh confessed that he had colluded with Charan Babu Mesta, an SDO at Reliance General Insurance Company, to issue fake insurance policies to several schools and colleges in Kundapura, Kota, Brahmavar, Shiroor, and Bhatkal.</p><p>Investigators later arrested Charan Babu Mesta, and he was subsequently remanded in police custody for further interrogation, which revealed that the duo had defrauded multiple educational institutions by collecting insurance premiums while providing them forged policy documents.<br></p><p>The police said both the accused had previously worked at the same insurance firm. They retained old genuine policy documents in PDF format, used editing applications to alter key details such as policy number, vehicle registration number, and insurance amount, and then circulated the altered documents as genuine ones.</p><p>Preliminary investigation indicated that the suspects jointly created as many as 86 insurance policies, out of which 29 were fake, while Charan alone fabricated 17 fake policies out of the 111 he had issued — totaling 46 fake school and college vehicle policies across Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts.</p>