Slain drug officer Neha’s parents booked by Chandigarh police for forgery, cheating

Amit Sharma

Chandigarh, July 2

The parents of Neha Shoree, the Zonal Licensing Authority of the Food and Drug Administration, Punjab, who was shot dead in Kharar on March 29, 2019, have been booked by the UT police on the charges of cheating following a complaint filed by the deceased officer’s husband, Varun Monga, a resident of Panchkula.

Two policies bought week before murder

• Two life insurance policies in the name of Neha Shoree were purchased on March 20, 2019, and issued on March 22, just a week before her murder.
• One of these policies was proposed by her mother Arun Shoree and the other by her father Capt Kailash Kumar Shoree (retd).
• Neha’s husband Varun Monga alleged that the signatures on customer declaration forms of the policies were forged. The forms were submitted by her father.
• The complainant had got the signatures on the forms verified by a forensic document expert.
• Neha’s parents realised money from these policies (Rs 5.47 lakh per policy) after her death.

According to the FIR, Monga alleged that Capt Kailash Kumar Shoree (retd) and his wife Arun Shoree, residents of Sector 12, Panchkula, forged Neha’s signatures on insurance proposal/customer declaration forms, misappropriating an amount of Rs 10 lakh.

He further claimed that after his wife’s death, her parents filed a complaint against him regarding a car, forcing him and his daughter to approach the Panchkula district court.

As per the complaint, during the civil suit proceedings in the car case, records from various banks, mutual funds and insurance companies were summoned. It was then that the complainant had discovered about Neha’s two life insurance policies of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd.

These policies were purchased on March 20, 2019, and issued on March 22, just a week before Neha’s murder. As per the records, one policy was proposed by Arun Shoree and the other by Kailash Kumar Shoree.

Monga alleged that the signatures on the customer declaration forms of these policies were forged, as they did not match Neha’s genuine signatures.

Additionally, the forms indicated that the applications were submitted by Kailash Kumar Shoree, Neha’s father. The complainant claimed that he got signatures compared by a forensic document expert, Devender Prasad. The signatures on the insurance forms were compared with those on Neha’s passport and official identity card, confirming the forgery, the complainant alleged.

He further alleged that Neha’s parents had realised the money from these policies after her death.

The claim applications were submitted on April 16, 2019, and the death claim payout of Rs 5.47 lakh per policy was paid to the accused on May 17, 2019, in a manner Monga described as suspiciously hurried.

Monga alleged that this forgery was committed by the accused in collusion with insurance company employees for financial gain.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the IPC at Sector 3 police station in May this year.

The 36-year-old Neha was shot dead in broad daylight at her officer in Kharar. After the murder, the accused, Balwinder Singh, a Morinda-based chemist, had shot himself dead with his .32-bore revolver. After investigation, the police had claimed that Singh had been nursing a grudge against Neha over suspension of his drug licence.