Natwarlal: 10 things about conman who sold Taj Mahal, Parliament several times

Picture for representation. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Natwarlal, whose real name was Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava, is considered one of the most notorious conman of India so far.

1. Real name was Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava

2. Born in 1912 at Bangra village of Siwan district in Bihar

3. Natwarlal used over 50 aliases to disguise himself and duped hundreds of people of crores of rupees.

4. Was a master of disguises and used unique ideas to cheat. Natwarlal was also a master in forging signatures of famous personalities.

5. His list of victims include, industrialists like the Tatas, the Birlas and also Dhirubhai Ambani. Natwarlal took lakhs to rupees from them while posing as a social worker. He also cheated several shop owners with lakh of rupees by paying them with cheques and demand drafts which later turned out to the fake. 

6. He was wanted in more than 100 cases by police of 8 states. He was sentenced to 113 years in prison.  

7. Natwalal made escapes from jails eight times in his life. 

8. It was in 1996 when Natwarlal was arrested for the last time. But the wheelchair-bound 84-year-old conman managed to  give a slip to the cops while being transported to a AIIMS hospital from Kanpur jail.

9. Like his life, Natwarlal's death also remains shrouded in mystery. His lawyers claimed that he died on July 25, 2009. But his brother Ganga Prasad Srivastava claimed that he had cremated him in 1996 at Ranchi.

10. Natwarlal is famously known for selling the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament building along with its 545 sitting members.