A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ahmedabad has sentenced five individuals to five years of rigorous imprisonment in connection with a fraudulent insurance claim that resulted in financial losses for the New India Assurance Company Ltd. (NIACL). The court also imposed a collective fine of Rs 23.5 lakh on the convicted parties.
The accused - Dinesh Parshotamdas Patel, Sanjay R. Chitre, Manan D. Patel, Shishupal Rajput, and Amar Singh Bialbhai - were found guilty of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that involved the submission of fake accident claims. According to the CBI’s investigation, between 1999 and 2000, the conspirators manipulated accident records, forged documents, and fabricated evidence to misappropriate funds from NIACL, leading to a financial loss of Rs 4,89,488 for the company.
The scheme was allegedly led by a senior divisional manager at NIACL in collaboration with private individuals who created false police reports and altered photographs to support their claims. Rajput, a recovery agent, reportedly played a key role in facilitating the transfer of the illicit funds, while Bialbhai, then an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in charge of the Mehrol outpost, was noted to be responsible for fabricating accident evidence to substantiate the claims.
The CBI registered the case on January 30, 2003, and filed a chargesheet on June 24, 2005. During the legal proceedings, 25 witnesses testified, and 228 documents were examined as evidence. The court convicted the accused based on the strength of the presented evidence but abated charges against S.A. Parmar, a senior NIACL officer, following his demise during the trial.
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