Marathwada Shocker! Man Kills Stranger & Burns Body In Car To Fake Own Death For ₹1 Crore Insurance Claim In Maharashtra’s Latur

Latur: Latur police have arrested a man within 24 hours for allegedly murdering another person and setting his body on fire inside a car to fake his own death, with the motive of claiming a Rs 1 crore insurance payout and escaping a debt of Rs 57 lakh, SP Amol Tambe told reporters in a press conference on Monday evening.

The incident came to light in the early hours of Saturday (Dec 14), when Dial 112 received a call around 12.30 am reporting a car on fire on the Vanavada Pati–Vanavada road in Ausa tehsil. Police from the Ausa police station rushed to the spot, called in the fire brigade, and doused the flames. During inspection, they found a partially burnt human skeleton inside the vehicle.

An accidental death was initially registered under Section 194 of the BNS, and further investigation was launched. A spot post-mortem was conducted, and DNA samples were preserved to establish the identity of the deceased.

The burnt car bore registration number MH-43-AB-4200. Investigation revealed that the vehicle was registered in the name of Baliram Gangadhar Rathod of Ausa Tanda and was being used by his brother-in-law Ganesh Gopinath Chavan, a resident of Vitthal Nagar, Ausa. Chavan’s wife told police that he had left home at around 10 pm on Dec 13 to give a laptop to a friend and had not returned.

Based on a hand ring (bracelet) recovered from the burnt body, relatives identified the remains as those of Ganesh Chavan, and the body was handed over to the family for burial, subject to further identification.

However, during a joint probe by the Local Crime Branch and Ausa police, suspicion arose that Ganesh Chavan might be alive. Technical analysis strengthened the suspicion, following which an LCB team tracked him down and detained him in Vijaydurg in the Sindhudurg district.

During interrogation, Chavan confessed to the crime. He revealed that he had been facing severe financial distress for the past one to one-and-a-half years. He had taken an Rs 1 crore term insurance policy three years ago and was burdened with loans amounting to around Rs 57 lakh. To ensure that his family received the insurance money and his debts were wiped out, he planned either to commit suicide or to kill someone else and pass it off as his own death.

Accordingly, on Saturday (Dec 13) night at 10 pm, he left home and reached Yakatpur Road Chowk in Ausa, where he picked up Govind Kishan Yadav (50), a resident of Patil Galli, Ausa, who asked for a lift while heavily intoxicated. Yadav requested to be dropped near Ausa Fort.

On the way, Chavan stopped at a dhaba, bought chicken for Yadav, and drove towards the Vanavada Pati–Vanavada road, assessing the isolation of the area. After parking the car, Yadav ate some food and soon fell asleep inside the vehicle. Chavan then dragged him onto the driver’s seat, fastened the seatbelt, placed matchsticks and plastic bags on the seat, set them on fire, left the petrol tank cap open to ensure the car caught fire quickly, and fled the scene.

He later walked to Tuljapur Mode, travelled to Kolhapur by a private bus, and then proceeded to Vijaydurg by ST bus, where he was finally apprehended.

Based on the complaint filed by PSI Atul Dake, a case has been registered at the Ausa police station against Ganesh Gopinath Chavan under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the BNS. Further investigation is underway.

Police said the accused had meticulously planned the murder to fraudulently claim insurance money and get his loans waived, but the plot was exposed within 24 hours due to swift and alert policing by the Latur police.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of SP Amol Tambe and Sub-Divisional Police Officer Kumar Choudhari, with teams from the Local Crime Branch, Ausa police station, and the Cyber Police Station playing a key role in cracking the case.