Odisha: Finance professional fakes own death for insurance benefits, arrested
Bhubaneswar: A finance professional from Odisha staged his own kidnapping and murder in a desperate attempt to claim insurance money. The matter came to the fore after Mayurbhanj police arrested him after three months of hide and seek game.
The saga began on August 8 when a bloodstained motorbike and a bag were discovered near a pond in the Khasia forest under Rairuan police limits of Mayurbhanj district. The missing person was identified as Hemant Patra from Jamudagaon under Harichandanpur police jurisdiction in Keonjhar district.
Patra's wife and mother-in-law lodged a police complaint alleging him being kidnapped and murdered. However, police investigations failed to yield any concrete findings of his murder.
A significant breakthrough came when police traced his phone records, revealing that Patra was in contact with relatives. Investigations revealed he was hiding in Secunderabad.
Police kept a watch on his movements and detained him during a visit to his home to collect his certificates. During questioning, Patra confessed to fabricating his own abduction and murder.
Patra admitted that mounting financial pressures, particularly difficulty in managing his equated monthly installments (EMI), prompted him to devise the elaborate hoax to secure an insurance payout.
“I was in deep financial trouble because of which I had to fake my death. My expenses were more than my income. Most of my money went to EMIs. So, I had to do such a fake death,” claimed Hemant Patra.
When contacted, Karanjia sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Subrat Kumar said, “He was under financial burden. He was paying a lot of EMIs. So, he planned everything from placing the blood-stained bike to fleeing to Secunderabad. We are not sure if his wife and other family members are also involved in this.”
