Mongar dzongkhag court sentenced two men to prison for fraudulent insurance claims.

In the judgment rendered on December 6, Tashi Phuntsho, 41, from Hurungpam village, Mongar gewog was sentenced to a year and six months in prison for asking Jampel, 44, to set his house on fire.

Jampel, 44, also from Hurungpam was sentenced to nine months in prison for setting the house on fire.

The judgment stated that Tashi Phuntsho bought a 20 decimal dry land in Hurungpam, two kilometres away from Mongar town towards Gyalpoizhing, for Nu 240,000 in 2012 and constructed a one-storey house.

On March 7 last year, the house caught fire around 11:30pm and Tashi Phuntsho later claimed insurance of Nu 527,139 from Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan (RICBL) for the house. Tashi Phuntsho gave Nu 20,000 to Jampel as a reward for setting the house on fire.

The judgment stated that although no one knew they set the fire, the two men reported the crime to police on August 25 this year and confessed that they set the house on fire intentionally.

Mongar police forwarded the case to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the attorney charged Tashi Phuntsho for obtaining insurance fraudulently while Jampel was charged for aiding and abetting the crime.

The court ordered Tashi Phuntsho to restitute the insurance claims to RICBL and Jampel to restitute the reward money to the government.  They can pay thrimthue in lieu of prison term.

Meanwhile, in another incident, a 32-year-old truck driver died on spot when the truck he was driving veered off the road below Redaza Primary School in Mongar yesterday evening.

The man was driving his friend’s truck when the incident happened. The actual driver of the truck and another friend was also in the truck when the accident occurred. They were not injured.

Tashi Phuntsho