LUCKNOW, June 3 -- Real stories from the officers who cracked Uttar Pradesh's most chilling crimes are now coming straight from the source. The state police has rolled out a new crime series under its podcast 'Beyond the Badge', bringing listeners face-to-face with the investigations behind major cases. The latest series opens with the Sambhal insurance fraud worth over Rs 100 crore, where a gang is accused of murdering people after taking out insurance policies in their names. In the matter, as many as 15 FIRs were registered at various police stations of different districts and at least 40 accused were arrested so far. Later, the central agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) also came in to probe the case, suspecting major money laundering was involved in the matter. According to a press release issued by the UP Police headquarters on Saturday, the initiative is aimed at giving the public an insight into how the police force works behind the scenes and raising awareness about various types of crimes and their modus operandi. The inaugural episode highlights a recently busted insurance fraud in Sambhal, where a criminal network involving insurance agents, bank staff, ASHA workers, and village secretaries was exposed. The gang operated across 12 states in the country. The perpetrators allegedly opened bank accounts under the names of the nominees of these unsuspecting policyholders. After the victims' deaths, the gang would claim the insurance payouts. Notably, the case gained further attention due to its sinister details. In certain instances, young boys were reportedly murdered after insurance policies were fraudulently obtained in their names. At least four cases of people being murdered to claim their high-value insurance claims had surfaced in the police investigation IPS officer Anukriti Sharma, currently posted as additional superintendent of police (ASP), South Sambhal, played a crucial role in the investigation. In the podcast, she shared how her team combined human and technical intelligence to unravel the scam. In the podcast, she explained that the gang manipulated identification documents, including Aadhaar cards, altering names, ages, and other details to show a death record matching the insured individual. In some cases, they even used another person's corpse to falsely claim the death of the insured. "Public cooperation is vital in curbing such crimes. If anyone notices irregularities or suspects fraud, they should report it to the authorities immediately," she said in the podcast. The UP Police plans to release more episodes featuring other high-profile cases in the coming weeks. The podcast is available on the official social media platforms of the Uttar Pradesh Police....