Man kills paralytic brother, stages accident to claim Rs 95L insurance in Sambhal; held with agent

SAMBHAL: Days after four men were arrested for murdering a wheelchair-bound man in cold blood to claim Rs 51 lakh insurance money, another man from Islamnagar region of Badaun district was arrested on Thursday for plotting and killing his paralytic brother to claim Rs 95 lakh insurance by showing the death as an accident.What began as a suspected accidental death case has now been unravelled as one of the most disturbing family crimes in recent years. Investigation revealed that accused Naveen Gupta, 48, burdened by mounting debts and financial instability, conspired to eliminate his elder brother Sanjay, 51.Sanjay, who used to run a stationery shop, was struggling with alcoholism and soon lost everything because of this habit. His wife divorced him, and he started living with his brother Naveen, who thought it was a huge financial and emotional burden.According to Sambhal additional SP Anukriti Sharma, “The plot was hatched in Sept 2023 when Naveen met a local advocate and insurance agent Akhilesh Kumar. It was Kumar who advised Naveen to get several life insurance policies in Sanjay’s name and then devise a way to eliminate him and show it as an accidental death case to claim insurance payouts. As per the plan, Naveen was the sole beneficiary of the insurance policies.”Determined to execute the plan, Naveen devised a brutal scheme to kill Sanjay. On June 26, 2014, Naveen lured his brother into an e-rickshaw and took him for a ride in the sweltering heat. When a physically weak Sanjay began showing signs of disorientation due to the heat, Naveen pushed him off the e-rickshaw at a deserted stretch.The e-rickshaw driver tried to help, but Naveen forced him to go away by threatening to file a case against him for 'reckless driving.' Naveen then smashed Sanjay’s head repeatedly against the road and walked away when the latter stopped moving.Passersby called the police. Sanjay was rushed to a hospital in Bahjoi, where doctors declared him dead. The murder was passed off as a road accident.SP Sambhal, KK Bishnoi, said, “After we cracked the earlier case, in which murder was shown as an accident to claim insurance, one of the insurance companies approached us with similar details. Investigation revealed that the e-rickshaw incident was fabricated and the accident was staged. A case was registered under IPC section 302 (murder) and Naveen and Akhilesh were arrested after a probe.”Notably, Sambhal police on May 2 arrested four men for the murder of a disabled man to fraudulently claim Rs 51 lakh insurance benefits.