Telgi tape traces cash trail to police

Pune: In 2001, Telgi was lodged in the Bangalore Jail and there seemed no stopping the Stamp Investigation Team or Stamp IT, which was set up to probe the case.

But through his lawyer Abdul Rashid Kulkarni, now himself in custody, Telgi was literally buying up and using IPS officers, even ministers, to save himself.

In fact, it was not just the politicians and the government machinery in Maharashtra that Telgi managed. Before being handed over to the Pune police, he actually managed to arm twist the government through his connections that he had with the then CM in 2001 to shut StampIT - the special investigating team that was investigating into Telgi's scam and network

There is substantive evidence about this kind of tradeoff in the Telgi tapes, which are now exclusively in possession of CNN-IBN.

Advocate Rashid Kulkarni: Ek bohut reliable aadmi sey baat ho gayee hai. (I have spoken to a very reliable man.)

Telgi: Haan (OK)

Advocate Kulkarni: Jee woh actually woh mandvali player hai woh. All IPS officers ka pura. (Actually, he is a good deal-maker. All IPS officers are in his...)

Telgi: hmm. (OK)

Advocate Kulkarni: Toh usney committ bhi kar liya hai ki karega bolkey... details poocha. (So he has committed to get the things done.)

Telgi: Accha woh kiss sey baat raha hai... (So, who is he talking to?)

Advocate Kulkarni: Ek dusara DIG hai uska bhai hai ye. Ye bhi IPS hi hai. Ye bhi poori team ko hi janta hai. Ye anna hi bola issey milaya. Anna bola ki agar main scene mein aaunga toh sab saamney aayenge. Ye aadmi sahi hai isssye kaam karney ke liye karkey usney milaya. (There is another DIG and this one is his brother. He is also an IPS officer. He known the entire team. Anna has only told me to meet him. Anna is saying if he comes to the scene, then everything will come to fore. This is the right man. He will do the job.)

Telgi: OK.

Advocate Kulkarni: karekey usney poora baat cheet kar liya hai... (He has already discussed all the details with this man.)

Telgi: Ok.

Advocate Kulkarni: Bas aapka taraf sey green signal chahiye. (Now, I just need your green signal.)

From the tapes, it seems Telgi was not able to influence StampIT chief R Srikumar. The next best option for him was to exploit his alleged links with S M Krishna, the then Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Telgi: Nai nahi. CM bol sakta hai. Kyonki koi bhi development nahin hai. Kyonki seedhey aapkey aadmi ko bulakey. Seedhey aapkey jo bhi admi middle man hai unko dobara bulake bolo main aapko 100 per cent gurantee de raha hoon iss baat ki (right sir?) nai CM ko bolna bolo karkey. (No, no. The CM can say it. There is no such development. Straightway talk to your man, call up your middleman and tell him. Tell the CM to tell him.)

Advocate Kulkarni: CM key thru sey kaam karaye. (Should we do it through the CM?)

Telgi: Haan bilkul. Bina CM ke karenge takleef mein aa jayenge. (Yes, absolutely. If we try to do it without CM's help, we will be in trouble.)

Advocate Kulkarni: Right sir (Ok, sir.)

Telgi was sure his alleged links with S M Krishna would pay off. Even from inside the jail, he literally instructed the Karnataka Government to wind up the investigation against him.

Rashid Kulkarni: Bas, CM bolna hai. Investigation abhi work out nahin hua hai. Isko wind up karo bass (The CM has to say. The investigation has not been worked out yet. Get this wound up.)

Telgi: Nai wind up karo aur jitna chargsheet dalan tha aur jitna jo jo dalna tha sab kaam ho gaya ismein ka (jee jee) abhi koi kaam nahi pending hai. Iss sey karodon ka nuksan ho raha hai (jee jee) scene khatam karo bolo. (Wind it up. Have they got chargesheet and all other things filed? There is nothing left. We are losing crores of rupees because of this. Tell him to end this story.)

Rashid Kulkarni: Right sir, ye iss tarah sey kaam karwa lunga mein... (Right sir, I will get this done.)

Telgi: Ya to HM bolna ya toh SM bolna theek hai (Either HM or SM, OK?)

Telgi: CM kich baat karo anna ko bolo direct CM koich baat karo karey boldena.. dubara bolo annako waisey kaam nahin hoga pasie ki baat karo paise lo baat khatam karo bolkey theek hai. (Talk to the CM. Tell Anna to talk directly to the CM. Tell Anna again. Nothing will happen this way. Talk about money. Take money and end all this.)

Rashid Kulkarni: Right sir.

Telgi had also penetrated the Bangalore police. Using an IPS officer known as a fixer of deals, he was buying off several senior Karnataka police officers. There even seemed to be fixed rates for different ranks, as Telgi's lawyer spells out in one of the recordings.

Telgi : Ye payment jo hai kaisa dena ka hai? Hisaab kitaab kya hai iska?(About this payment, how much do we need to pay? What are the rates?)

Anil Gote: Hisaab kaisa hai malum hai sir. Police side jo hai, upar se neeche tak jo hai, usne 55 tair kiya hai. Usme se ADGP jo hai, Ramani, usko 25 hai. Aur jo Hari Bhaskar hai, jisne introduce kiya hai, usko 5 hai. IG ko 10 dena hai, aur baaki pandra jo hai DIG, phir SP aata hai, Shankar aata hai (door bell rings). One minute sir. Phir apna Prabhakar jo aata hai, sir. Ye sab milke 55 aata hai. (I know all the rates sir. In police from top to bottom, they have fixed 55. From this, ADGP Ramani will charge 25, the man called Hari Bhaskar who introduced us will take 5; IG will have to be given 10. Of the rest, 15 will go to DIG, then comes SP, Shankar. Then comes Prabhakar. All together 55 will be needed.)

UG Ramani, then Additional Director General of Police, whom Telgi was prepared to pay Rs 25 lakh, was allegedly his key link in the police force.

Telgi: Link kaisa hai inka upar se? (How are his links from above?)

Rashid Kulkarni: Ye link matlab the name is, ADGP jo Ramani jo hai na sir, vahi main hai. He has to be controlled. Agar woh kuch bhi bolega, to neeche wala ko dekar kuch faayda nahin hai. (About this link? The name is ADGP Ramani. He is the main man. He has to be controlled. If he says something, then there is no point paying the down the ranks.)

Telgi: Baraabar (Right.)

Rashid Kulkarni: Yahi main hai. Aur apna doosra jo main hai woh hai Shankar. (He is the main man. And the second man is Shankar.)

Rashid Kulkarni: Sirf do din ke andar poora police ka jo kaam hai, woh band karva dega poora. This is what (In two days, he will get all police investigations stopped.)

Sure enough, the Stamp Investigation Team was disbanded and it is alleged that Telgi's money was responsible for this. The CDs of Telgi's phone conversations recorded by StampIT seem to conclusively prove this.

With Deepa Balakrishnan in Bangalore, and Mandar Phanse and Toral Varia in Mumbai

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