Jaipur: Nagaur police Monday arrested three more people in a fake crop insurance racket, taking the total number of arrests to seven, as investigators probe a network accused of fraudulently securing crop insurance and diverting payouts meant for farmers. The arrested accused were identified as Aditya Patodiya (35), Akshay Kumar (29) and Vineet Kumar Dubey (28). Police said they were allegedly part of the main chain of an insurance company’s network and worked as cluster, district and tehsil coordinators, respectively. Police seized a car allegedly used in the operation, besides forged documents, stamps, crop insurance forms and a rubber stamp made in the name of an agriculture supervisor. Investigators said the accused allegedly collected details of landowners and khasra numbers from villages and used them to fraudulently obtain crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. “They allegedly created forged documents, forms and seals of the local SDM and used bank accounts of other persons to receive the insurance payments,” said an officer. The racket came to light after a farmer from Dujasar village filed a complaint on Aug 13, alleging that crops on land registered in his wife’s name had been insured through an agriculture insurance company without their knowledge. The investigation found that a fake crop insurance claim of Rs 4.70 lakh had allegedly been processed and the money deposited in another person’s bank account. Police said five cases linked to fake crop insurance claims have so far been registered at Panchodi, Jayal, Merta Road, Shri Balaji and Rol police stations. The three accused were produced before a court and taken on police custody remand. Further investigation is underway.
