Abdul Karim Telgi sentenced to 7 yrs Regress Imprisonment

Mumbai, Nov 30: A special court here today awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment to multi-crore fake stamp paper kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi and five others, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, in connection with the 2001 Christopher murder case.

Additional sessions judge U D Salvi, who had convicted Telgi and the others on Nov 29, today pronounced the quantum of punishment.

All those convicted were also directed to pay a fine of Rs three lakh each.

Telgi, who is lodged at the Yerawada jail in Pune, was today produced before the court under heavy police protection.

Appearing before the judge, Telgi said since he is suffering from a terminal disease, he be given lesser punishment and the sentence be allowed be run concurrently with the other sentences. The court turned down the request.

Besides Telgi, the five others to be awarded punishment include Mohammed Gous Moula Ali Sighavi, Sajid alias Yusuf Khan, Maqdoom Hussein Mohammed Jadkod, Kalim, and Bande Nawaz Samsher.

Tabrez Ahmed Telgi, the nephew of Abdul Karim Telgi, and another accused Uday Sawant were acquitted for want of evidence.

The accused had been charged with murdering Christopher Bhatti, who was an employee of Telgi. Bhatti allegedly used to handle Telgi's fake stamp paper business in Tamil Nadu. He had allegedly siphoned off Rs 2.5 lakh and had gone into hiding.

However, Telgi's men tracked him down and brought him to Mumbai.

On August 26, 2001, Telgi's henchmen severely beat up Bhatti, who succumbed to his injuries on August 28 at Telgi's flat at Cuffe Parade. The body was later dumped in the Mahim Creek.

The matter came to light during investigations into the fake stamp paper case and during the interrogation of co-accused Uday Sawant. Police then lodged an FIR and arrested Telgi and seven others in this case.

Incidentally, on January 17 last year, Judge Salvi had convicted Telgi and his two accomplices, Sanjay Gaikwad and Ram Ratan Soni, to ten years imprisoment and a fine of Rs 50000 in a fake stamp paper case.

UNI