Taipei, Nov 28 - A Taiwan man was turned over for prosecution Saturday after hiring two men to chop off his hand in order to claim insurance worth 24 million Taiwan dollars ($730,000).

Chiang Chi-wei, 38, told police Nov 8 that he had been attacked by two men who chopped off his left hand in Chunghe, a satellite city of Taipei.

Police became suspicious because the wound on Chiang's arm was smooth and blood stains were concentrated in one area on the ground.

Investigation showed that Chiang was in debt and had bought insurance policies worth 24 million Taiwan dollars from a dozen companies.

Last week, police arrested two men who claimed that Chiang had hired them to knock him unconscious and chop off his left hand. A farmer found Chiang's severed hand Friday and handed it to police.

Chiang turned himself in to police Friday and was turned over for prosecution Saturday.

"He said his company ran into deep debts, so he hired the two men to chop off his hand to collect insurance policies to pay off debts," Chang Meng-lin, head of the Chunghe Police Station said.  (IANS)