Fake stamps, papers worth Rs. 10 cr. seized

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 20. In a major operation that could have inter- State ramifications, the Bangalore City Police have seized fake stamps and stamp papers worth about Rs. 10 crores and arrested 10 persons who were part of a suspected nation-wide racket.

The city police said the stamp papers were said to have been supplied from Bombay, and hinted at the possibility of such fake stamps being under circulation in different parts of the country.

The Police Commissioner, Mr. T. Madiyal, told presspersons that the racket, said to be active in the State for nearly a year, was using at least 10 men to circulate fake stamps. They were using 10 two-wheelers for the purpose. The ``king-pin'' of the racket in Karnataka was Badruddin of Belgaum, he added.

Stamps and stamp papers, worth Rs. 9.91 crores, were recovered from the racketeers after raids on two premises in Bangalore. They included bank affidavit stamps, share transfer stamps, bankers stamps, revenue stamps, postal stamps, insurance policy stamps and court fee stamps.

All the 10 two-wheelers, a couple of pagers and a mobile phone are among the seized articles. Police also recovered Rs. 34.4 lakhs in cash, which was allegedly earned through sale of fake stamps.

The criminals' modus operandi was to approach banks and private and government institutions and convince them that they were genuine dealers and take orders for supply of stamps and stamp papers. But they delivered fake stamps and papers.

Their clients included National Insurance Corporation, UTI Bank, Bank of India, LIC, Graphite India Limited, Oriental Insurance Company, Sriram Chit Fund, Arvind Mills, BEL, ICDS, Tata Tea, Ashok Leyland, MICO, HUDCO and so on.

The racket was busted following a tip-off. Two persons, operating under the brand name ``Sri Sai A Class Stamp Vendors,'' were arrested while allegedly transporting the fake stamps and stamp papers on Subedar Chatram Road on Saturday evening. They were carrying stamps and stamp papers worth Rs. 53.12 lakhs.

Following the information given by them, police raided their firm in Banakshankari, where they recovered stamps and stamp papers valued at Rs. 76 lakhs and Rs. 27,000 in cash. Several incriminating documents were also seized. On learning that the stamps and stamp papers had been stored in a godown, police raided a premises in R.T. Nagar, where they recovered stamps and stamp papers worth about Rs. 8.63 crores. The main accused, Badruddin alias Bhadru (24), was a resident of Kamath Galli in Belgaum and also had a house in AKB Cross, Dinnur Main Road, R.T. Nagar in Bangalore. Others arrested in the case were: Vithal (25) of Vidyanagar, Tilakwadi, Mohammad Ayub (28), Kenchanagalli, Sameer Fayaz (20), Darbar Galli, Kade Bazar, Javed Noor (26), Jatpat Colony, Vaibhavnagar, all Belgaum, Riyaz alias Riyan (27), Jayanagar, Anis Khan alias Anees (22), Wilson Garden, A. D. Chetan (21), Thagarajanagar, Rafi alias Rafi Ahmed (24), D. J. Halli, and Nauskhan (22) of Jayanagar, from all Bangalore.

The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, and the Home Minister, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, visited the office of the Commissioner of Police and had a look at the seized stamps and stamp papers. Mr. Krishna has announced a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 to the investigating team.

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