Abdul Karim Telgi

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Abdul Karim Telgi is an alleged forger from India. Born to an employee of Indian Railways in 1961, he had to sell fruit after the death of his father to earn a living. He and his brothers studied at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, an English medium school. He completed his B.Com from a Belgaum college. After this, he moved to Saudi Arabia. After spending 7 years in Saudi Arabia, he came back and worked as a travel agent.

He was arrested in 1991 by Mumbai police for fraud. He reportedly learned the art of forgery from an expert in prison; his exploits resulting from this knowledge eventually made him famous. In 1994, Telgi acquired a stamp paper licence from the Government of India.

He began printing fake stamp paper. He appointed 300 people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchasers, including banks, FIs, insurance companies, and share-broking firms. His monthly profits have been estimated as being in the neighbourhood of Rs 100 crore (US $ 20 million).

A videotape emerged in September 2006 of Abdul Karim Telgi taking a narco-analysis test. Under the influence of the truth serum, Telgi supposedly blurted out the names of Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sharad Pawar and Chaggan Bhujbal.

His drugged confession may have shock value as Sharad Pawar has never been publicly linked to the case. But today he was forced to go public with his denials.

The CBI however, says these are old allegations.