Abdul Karim Telgi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject India or the India Portal may be able to help recruit one. |
Abdul Karim son of Ladsaab Telgi (born 1961) is a convicted forger from India.
Born to an employee of Indian Railways in 1961, Telgi was left to fend for himself at an early age after his father's death. He paid for his own education at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, an English medium school, by selling fruit and vegetables on trains.[1] He completed his B.Com from a Belgaum college. After this, he moved to Saudi Arabia. Seven years later, he returned to India and began to work as a travel agent.
Telgi was arrested in 1991 by Mumbai police for fraud. During his subsequent prison sentence, he reportedly learned the art of forgery from an expert. He was released and, in 1994, 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 202 crore (US $20 million). More details here
The Telgi case brought corruption in the Karnataka police force to light, causing a national scandal in India. [2] A videotape emerged in September 2006 of Abdul Karim Telgi taking a Narco Analysis test. Under the influence of the supposed truth serum, Telgi is said to have blurted out the names of Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sharad Pawar and Chaggan Bhujbal. Pawar has never been publicly linked to the case, but was forced to go public with a denial.
On 17 January 2006, Telgi and several associates were sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment.[3]
On June 28, 2007 Telgi was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment [4] for 13 years and fined a whopping Rs 202 crore on various counts in one of the main cases of the scandal. Hours after Telgi pleaded guilty and repented his actions, Judge Chitra Bhedi of a special court pronounced the quantum of punishment under various sections of the IPC and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act. This is the harshest punishment given to Telgi in any of the fake stamp paper cases he has been convicted for so far in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Judge Bhedi observed that she had taken a "lenient view" since Telgi, who is in judicial custody in Pune, had pleaded guilty and also because of his health. Telgi is HIV positive.
Bhedi sentenced 42 other accused in the case, who too had pleaded guilty, to rigorous impriosnment for up to six years and imposed fines on them. CBI counsel Raja Thakre moved an application in the court seeking the confiscation of Telgi's property to recover the fine slapped on him. Telgi, who broke down earlier in the day while pleading guilty, thanked the judge for "giving him justice."
Friday, Jun 29, 2007 : A special court in Pune on Thursday sentenced Abdul Karim Telgi, the brain behind the multicrore stamp paper scandal, to 13-year rigorous imprisonment and imposed on him the highest quantum of fine in the country so far — Rs. 202 crore
[edit] References
- ^ "Telgi is so Indian", The Hindu, 30 November 2003.
- ^ "Telgi is so Indian", The Hindu, 30 November 2003.
- ^ "10-yr RI for Telgi in stamp paper scam", Indian Express, 18 January 2006.
- ^ "Telgi gets 13 years jail, Rs 202 crore fine", Rediff.com, 29 June 2007.
