Court acquits 14 in fake stamp paper case

Rajkot, Sep 21 (UNI) A local court today acquitted all the accused in the fake stamp-paper scam case here, involving a local aide of alleged mastermind Abdul Karim Telgi and 13 others, including a woman for lack of evidence.

The Fast-Track Court Judge HJ Joshi earlier concluded the hearing in the case and announced his verdict today.

The Judge in his 140-page judgement severely criticised the police for not providing sufficient evidence in the case. He also passed strictures against the police for failing to seal evidence seized from the accused.

Out of the 92 witnesses, 70 witnesses had been examined and they failed to provide sufficient information in the case, the judge observed.

According to police, 14 people, including Ahmedabad-based Kishore Patel, an aide of Telgi, had been charge sheeted for allegedly supplying fake stamp papers to an insurance company and a post-office in Rajkot.

Patel, the prime accused in the scam here, was arrested with bogus' stamp papers on July 1, 2004, after an insurance company official had lodged a complaint against him in Rajkot.

Patel's arrest had led the police to nab 13 more people from Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Mumbai in the racket where fake stamp-papers worth lakhs of rupees were used to dupe the insurance company and post office, police said. A huge stock of bogus stamp papers was also seized from them, they added.

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