Mumbai, Nov 05: In a twist to the ongoing probe into the multi-crore fake stamps scam, city police has cancelled the licence of prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi's 'Alankar Lodge'. The police action came after the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to probe the scam, wrote to Mumbai police requesting cancellation of lodge's licence, police sources said here today. The SIT, in turn, has sealed the lodge and urged the special Mcoca court in Pune to attach this property along with nearly half a dozen other properties of Telgi. "The Alankar lodge, situated on the Dadabhai Navroji road, was issued licence under the PPL category and it was cancelled in September this year following the SIT's request," a senior Mumbai police official told a news agency. The Alankar lodge, which the SIT suspects was purchased by Telgi from the scam money, was also a money earner for him, sources said. Telgi used to regularly receive the collections of the lodge even while in the custody of the Mumbai Police, sources alleged.

The SIT, sources said, had got suspicious about the role of some Mumbai crime branch men in assisting Telgi when he was in their custody late last year.

The SIT had received very concrete evidence that Ttelgi had visited Alankar lodge to collect money when he was in the custody of Mumbai Police and that time he was allegedly accompanied by some crime branch men, the sources added.

Bureau Report