Tamil Nadu   

Political nexus in stamp paper scam under scrutiny

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, JULY 14. The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon probe the political angle in the fake stamp paper scam.

Three officials, including the Deputy-Inspector General of Police (CB-CID), A.P. Mohamed Ali, were arrested on July 1. The agency is expected to follow up on "specific" information on a couple of politicians, including a first-time MP, in the multicrore "transactions". A high-level team is expected to arrive in Chennai this weekend to finalise the plan of action, according to a top police official.

The allegation is that the leaders "facilitated" the flow of fake stamp papers in Tamil Nadu, "brokering" deals with top police and revenue officials. One of them was even associated with the prime suspect, Abdul Karim Telgi. "Apart from the confessional statements of the accused already in custody, the police have gathered clinching evidence to prove the involvement of the duo," the official pointed out.

The CBI is preparing to conduct raids on the premises of some persons in southern districts, suspected to be "close" to Mr. Ali and two others. The investigators are closing in on a few State Government officials, who were "hand-in-glove" with the suspects.

Meanwhile, police sources in Virudhunagar district claimed that the July 9 arrest of Mahaboob John, a former printing press owner at Sivakasi, was an operation of the Corps of Detectives attached to the Karnataka police. Though the kin of the accused maintained that the police in plainclothes claimed to be CBI sleuths, it was actually the CoD, who secured John in connection with a 2002 case of printing fake stamp papers and counterfeit currency notes in the Yashwanthpur police station limits in that State. The sources said the search for two others was still on.

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