Thane: The Local Crime Branch claims to have busted a major racket in claiming insurance amount based on false death certificates with the arrest of six people, including two doctors from Mumbra.

The police said that an offence under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Vitthalwadi police station concerning fake insurance claims and cheating of the insurance companies amounting to lakhs of rupees.

Police got a breakthrough with the arrest of Chandrakant Narasimulu Shinde, the main accused in the case. Through Shinde, police reached an employee of the civic crematorium in Mumbra, Tejpal Ramveer Mehrol, who obtained fake death certificates for claiming the insurance amount from two doctors. These doctors from Mumbra, namely Dr Abdul Mohid Siddiqui and Dr Imran Siddiqui, had issued such fabricated certificates for 10 people who are still alive and 3 others, who are dead.

Mehrol received Rs 15,000 for each of the fake certificates while the doctors got Rs 2,000 for each of the certificates. Two others arrested in the case are the relatives of Shinde.

The main accused had procured Rs 81 lakh by lodging claims with the fabricated documents. He had also lodged claims for an additional amount of Rs 55 lakh, but was caught. He had lodged the claims with Bajaj Alliance Life Insurance and Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance companies.

Police are now probing if any employees of the Health Department of Thane Municipal Corporation which issues the certificates, and any employees of the insurance companies, are associated with the racket.