Two decades after the infamous stamp paper scam masterminded by Abdul Karim Telgi, the Bengaluru Police busted a fake stamp paper racket and recovered Rs 2.71 crore worth of banned stamp papers from four persons who were arrested on Saturday. According to the police, the arrested have been identified as Hassain Modi Babu alias 'Chhota Telgi', aged 53, a resident of Vivek Nagar, and Harish Subbaraya, aged 55, a resident of Basavesjwara Nagara.
The other two accused — Shavar alias Seema, 42, and Nazma Fathima, 35 — are typists working in Kandaya (Revenue) Bhavan in the city, the police said. The Additional Commissioner of Police, West, Bengaluru City, Soumendu Mukherjee said that Hassain Modi Babu is known as 'Chhota Telgi' among his associates for running this racket for several years.
"He used to operate in a very busy area where City Civil Court premises and Revenue Bhavan are situated. Here, thousands come to get their documents registered and signed from notary," he said. According to Mukherjee, Babu used to look for gullible customers through his associates like Seema, Nazma and Harish who work as typists in shops near these offices.
He further added that Babu had been running this scam for the last two decades. "After gaining experience in printing, he has procured fake franking machines, embossing machines and computers as well. The prime accused has studied upto Class 7," he said.
The police official further said that Babu had also allegedly forged seals of sub-registrar offices of Shivajinagar, Kengeri and Bommanahalli, and the seals of Treasury officers were also recovered. Apart from this, he was possessing a forged seal of Vishwa Bharati Co-Operative Housing Society as well, the police declared in their note released to the media.
The police added that Babu allegedly used to print fake stamp papers on A4 size sheets with all the watermarking to avoid getting caught by customers.
"His prime targets used to be those who had come to register their lease deeds, rent deeds, contract deeds and other documents, which generally do not attract much attention as customers do not go into the details," the note read further.
During the raid, police seized fake stamp paper with the face value of Rs 10, 20, 30. 40. 50 100, 200, 500, 750, 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 10000, 15000, 20000, and 25000, Deccan Herald reported. The police have registered a case and further investigations are on.