Security agencies investigating the stamp paper scam are haunted by a new puzzle: What happened to over 1,000 second-hand printing machines imported from Australia in 1998? They fear at least some of them may have fallen into the hands of those involved in the counterfeit stamp racket.Preliminary investigations revealed that most of the machines were capable of priting in two colours, which is what is required for stamp paper. Some machines could print four colours. The consignment came in the name of a Hyderabad resident but it is still not clear what he did with the machines.It was with the arrest of one Ramratan Soni in connection with a Rs 5-lakh foreign stamp scam in February that the officers realised they had stumbled upon an elaborate network.
