The main accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket, Abdul Karim Lala Telgi, has a dubious record. He owes a whopping `254 crore in fines imposed by various courts in connection with a series of cases in which he is involved.
Telgi has been attending courts in connection with several cases filed against him in different parts of the country. When his racket was exposed in Karnataka, it was found that he was operating his business with the help of several politicians and leaders for more than two decades.
According to information obtained through RTI by Belgaum activist Bheemappa Gadad, Telgi has been convicted in at least 37 cases and trials are continuing in 17 other cases in different courts in Maharashtra and Karnataka. In one of the cases, a Pune sessions court ordered him to pay up a fine of `251 crore while in respect of the 36 other cases, he has to pay fines to the tune of `3.17 crore. This is supposed to be the highest amount fined on any individual criminal by the courts.
According to the RTI information, `55,000 was spent on Telgi’s medical treatment when he was put up in the Bengaluru jail for some time days in 2008. Subsequently, the jails where he stayed in Maharashtra have spent huge sums on his medical and other expenses over the past four to five years.
A resident of Khanapur near Belgaum, Telgi was making a living selling fruits before he got into printing of fake stamp papers two decades ago. His racket spread across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and several other states before it was exposed. During the narco-analysis tests done on him, he had named several top bureaucrats and politicians who, he said, had aided him in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket across the country. He is currently lodged in the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune.