Telgi, 4 others get 7-yr jail for death of his driver

Abdul Karim Telgi, the key accused in the multi-crore stamp paper scam, and his four associates were sentenced to seven years’ RI...

Abdul Karim Telgi, the key accused in the multi-crore stamp paper scam, and his four associates were sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court on Friday for their hand in the death of his driver, Christopher Bhatti, in 2001.

Telgi, who was brought amid high security from Pune’s Yerawada jail, pleaded for leniency from Special Judge Salvi. “My life is like a bubble on water, it can burst any time,” said Telgi, referring to his AIDS ailment and diabetes. He said his wife was on deathbed and only his minor daughter was at home. “My mother and brother have passed away and I am the only one left to look after my family,” Telgi said.

Telgi, who was found guilty on Thursday of a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, also pleaded that any sentence that he was handed out be ordered to run concurrently with the 13-year jail term he was already serving at Yerawada jail.

Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said that Telgi and four others—Sajid Khan, Mohammed Ghaus Shigwe, Maqdum Hussain and Kalim Bandenawa—had tortured Bhatti so badly that he succumbed to his injuries, including fracture and burn injuries. This is the third of the 48 criminal cases registered against Telgi in which he has been found guilty.

The same court had sentenced him to 10 years in jail in connection with a case in the fake stamp paper scam in January 2006. In June 2007, a special MCOCA court in Pune sentenced him to 13 years in jail, also in case in the fake stamp paper scam, after he pleaded guilty.

The present case dates back to June 2001 when, according to the prosecution, two of Telgi’s employees—Christopher Bhatti and Suraj Buki—who worked at his Chennai office stole Rs 1.6 lakh they had collected by selling fake stamps printed by Telgi. Bhatti was taken to a flat in Cuffe Parade and tortured, resulting in his death on the night of August 27, 2001, according to the prosecution.

Bhatti’s body was dumped in Mahim creek, according to the prosecution, and his body fished out by the police but could not be identified and the case remained unsolved for a year. It was only when Telgi was arrested in Bund Garden case in Pune in June 2002 that he also confessed to torturing Bhatti, which led his death.

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Of the six accused, Tabrez Telgi and Uday Sawant were acquitted on Thursday for want of evidence.