Karnataka hands over 56 Telgi tapes

The direction was given by a bench headed by Chief Justice C.K. Thakker on the basis of a PIL filed by activist Anna Hazare and others. The fake stamps and stamp paper scam was run by agents employed by Telgi across seven states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Some indication of the explosive nature of the taped conversations can be gauged from the fact that the scandal has, to date, led to the arrest of prominent individuals including Inspector General Sridhar Vagal and MLA Anil Gote.

And those called into questioning by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) have included Mumbai Police Commissioner R.S. Sharma and Assistant Police Commissioner Ramakant Padwal, who was summoned today.

While Sharma was questioned for two consecutive days, ACP Padwal was questioned by SIT chief Subodh Jaiswal at the state police headquarters for over an hour on his role as head of the Crime Branch Dharavi unit. Two of Padwal’s subordinates have already been arrested. The SIT is tallying Padwal’s statement with those of the two accused officers.

Policemen of different ranks and across various departments have been nailed for abetting Telgi, thus throwing a question mark over the functioning of the entire Home Department which is under Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal.