Udupi: Two arrested for fake insurance scam involving school and college buses; crores duped

Udupi: Two arrested for fake insurance scam involving school and college buses; crores duped

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Oct 7, 2025: Police have busted a large-scale insurance fraud involving fake policies issued for school and college buses and arrested two individuals in connection with the scam, which is estimated to have caused losses worth crores of rupees.

At a press conference held at the Udupi SP office, District Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar provided details of the case.

The arrested have been identified as Rakesh S. (33) from Kunjikere, Sastana, and Charan Babu Maesta from Sirsi. According to the SP, the duo created fake insurance policies for school and college buses and cheated various institutions out of large sums of money.

Case came to light after accident

The fraud surfaced following a road accident on November 25, 2024, when a school vehicle collided with an autorickshaw in Hunsemakki village near Hombadi-Mandadi, under Kota Police Station limits. During court proceedings, the autorickshaw driver had sought ₹15.95 lakh in insurance compensation.

However, when the insurance company verified the documents, it was revealed that the bus’s insurance policy was fake. Acting on a complaint filed by the manager of Reliance General Insurance Company, a case was registered at the Kota Police Station for forgery and cheating.

Under the leadership of Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna and SI Praveen Kumar of Kota Station, a special team investigated the case and uncovered the large-scale fraud, SP Hariram Shankar said.

School and college buses were the main targets

During interrogation, the first accused, Rakesh, confessed that he colluded with Charan Babu Maesta, a former Senior Development Officer (SDO) at Reliance General Insurance, to create fake insurance policies for school and college buses in Kundapur, Kota, Brahmavar, Shirur, and Bhatkal areas.

Police arrested Charan Babu on October 3 and took him into custody for further interrogation. Investigations revealed that the duo had collected money from various private and aided educational institutions across Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, promising genuine bus insurance but instead issuing forged policies.

SP Shankar noted that the accused deliberately targeted school and college buses, believing that such vehicles, which move slowly and rarely meet with accidents, would not lead to insurance claims and thus would help them evade detection.

46 institutions duped

Investigations found that the accused issued around 86 insurance policies, of which 29 were fake, and in another batch of 111 policies, 17 were fraudulent — affecting a total of 46 schools and colleges.

Since the accused had previously worked with Reliance General Insurance, they had access to old policy PDF files, which they manipulated using PDF editing software. They altered details such as policy numbers, dates, vehicle registration numbers, and insurance amounts before sending the forged documents to schools and colleges.

The police are continuing their investigation to uncover further links in the fraud network.