Pune, Nov 15: The special court today rejected the bail application of Manoj Mehta, an alleged agent of the prime accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket Abdul Karim Telgi. Special public prosecutor Raja Thakre had opposed the bail application on the ground that the accused was involved with the activities of Telgi and was in touch with the prime accused as his (Mehta's) voice was in the tapes that were submitted by the Karnataka government. However, the defence counsel had pleaded that the accused may be given bail as he was not involved in the crime and that he would not abscond if given bail. The special court judge S M Shembole upheld the prosecution argument and rejected Mehta's bail.

Earlier on October nine, the bail applications of Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP) MLA Anil Gote and suspended assistant police inspector Dilip Kamat's bail application were also rejected by the court.

The hearing on the bail application of suspended Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA and former Andhra Pradesh Minister Krishna Yadav will take place on November 19, while the bail application of senior police inspector of crime branch Datta Dal will taken up on November 29.

Telgi and others are facing charges of printing and distributing counterfeit stamps and stamp papers in Maharashtra causing revenue losses to the government to the tune of crore of rupees. Bureau Report