What names, what diary: Telgi

The main accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket, Abdul Karim Telgi, has denied he mentioned the involvement of 19 ministers in the scam in any diary.

Also Read Complete coverage of the stamp scam

"He says he has not written that way," Telgi's counsel M T Nanaiah told reporters on Saturday. "They [the Mumbai police] have found the diary after he was in prison for two years. Who has written this diary, whose diary is it?" he asked.

Nanaiah said Telgi told him he furnished the names of nine persons involved in the racket in Bangalore, but no action was initiated against them.

Asked to name the nine, the counsel said they are 'private persons' and not politicians or police officers.

When reporters asked Telgi how many ministers were involved in the racket just as he was being taken away by the police after his appearance in a Bangalore court, Telgi replied: "Nobody."

Earlier, on an application filed by Telgi, the second fast track sessions court Judge K Nagaiah Shetty ordered that the chief medical officer of the central prison submit a medical report on the accused.

The next hearing on Telgi's application has been scheduled for December 6.

Claiming that Telgi is HIV positive, a diabetic and suffers from a heart ailment, Nanaiah alleged the stamp paper
investigation team wanted to see him dead in jail.