The Counterfeiter: Abdul Karim Telgi and the Stamp Scam

Bhaswar Mukherjee

Bhaswar Mukherjee, whose published works till date include many award-winning short stories and who Amitav Ghosh calls 'an author of promise', takes this plunge into the world of true crime in essaying the audacious journey of Abdul Karim Telgi and the stamp scam which had rocked the moorings of India in the late 90's and the early 20's. Though a book in the Hindi vernacular was written in 2004 and even movies made, Telgi died in 2017 and hence significant developments in the case have never been chronicled earlier.

Bhaswar's effort essays the complete life, from womb to grave of this scamster and his dare-devil journey, cutting through a fair amount of media clutter and sensationalism that was associated with Telgi's ‘colourful' persona. This work of nonfiction has been re-constructed from multiple case filings and judgements, news articles and papers to give the reader the complete story of the sheer innovation of an underdog. To assist the reader, an appendix on Stamping in India, including e stamping has been provided in the appendix as well as the many case and article references used.

While a factual read, this true crime story has all the overtones of a Bollywood pot-boiler, replete with chases, corrupt government officials and police officers, political blessings, bar dancers and even a murder.

An intriguing read, this book raises questions, even though many do remain unanswered till this day.

How was it possible for a lazy failure of an employee to establish a pan-India "business" and reach such dizzying heights of power and pelf?

How did he manage to undermine the hallowed institutions of India? From police to politicians, from security printing presses to jails?

What was the size of the fraud? How did the CBI peg the figure at a mere fraction of the guesstimated amount? How were the proceeds of the scam co-mingled with Telgi's other business? How were they deployed? How did the law protectors protect Telgi by ascribing his crime to his competitors?

Was Telgi a ruthless scamster and a counterfeiter or was there some goodness in him?

Do pick up the book to find out.

Bhaswar, who lives in Chennai, holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from IIM Bangalore. After dabbling in the world of finance for close to eighteen years in multinational banks (Bank of America and HSBC), he quit in 2005 to set up his own company Bridgepoint Solutions Pvt Ltd, which provides consultancy and learning solutions in the banking domain. He has contributed to eleven anthologies, published a solo anthology in 2020, ‘it happens-Stories of Human Relationships' for which the Navi Mumbai Chambers of Business and Industries recognised him as the Best Storyteller 2021' at the Indian Authors Conference and Awards -November 21.

His short stories have been selected by the likes of Sudha Murty, Amitav Ghosh, Ashwin Sanghi, Nayantara Sahgal, Amitav Ghosh Upamanyu Chatterjee, Vivek Shanbhag, Tuhin Sinha and Ravinder Singh.

In January 2022, Bhaswar's first nonfiction ‘The Counterfeiter - Abdul Karim Telgi and the Stamp Scam, was represented by his literary agency The Book Bakers and published by Om Books International.

Full details of his work are available at: https://www.amazon.com/author/bhaswar

He can be contacted at: m.bhaswar@gmail.com