Bengaluru: Chota Telgi among 4 held in fake stamp paper case

Bengaluru: A fake stamp paper racket was busted here with the arrest of four persons and forged documents worth Rs 2.72 crore were recovered from them, police said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, two persons, including the kingpin of the scam Chota Telgi, were arrested in the city on October 3. During interrogation, the kingpin revealed the names of two stamp vendors from the city, who purchased the fake stamp papers, following which they were also arrested.

Raids were carried out at the house of the kingpin and 443 fake stamp papers of various denominations ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 25,000 were confiscated.

The kingpin, police said was a class VII dropout and was known as Chota Telgi. He used to make house rent documents near the Kandaya Bhavan and City Civil Court.

He earned the epithet Chota Telgi (junior Telgi), after the infamous Abdul Kareem Lala Telgi, who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam in 2002. In 2013, Chota Telgi and his accomplice were arrested for manufacturing and selling fake stamp papers and seals. A case against them is still pending in the court, but they are out on bail.

It emerged from the investigation that the accused used the fake documents for creating fake agreement deeds, will certificate and agreements among others. The four have been booked for cheating, forgery and conspiracy under various sections of the IPC.