Mumbai: In a new twist to the multi-crore fake stamp paper probe, Maharashtra Government as well as former Mumbai Police Commissioner R S Sharma (who was indicted by SIT) today alleged that prominent persons had links with the prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi even as Mumbai High Court put on hold the transfer of case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying SIT should go on with the probe for the time being.

Making submissions before Chief Justice C K Thakker and Justice Abhay Oka, Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati said the SIT, probing the scam, had heard as many as 720 telephonic conversations between Telgi and others recorded by Karnataka Government when the accused was in jail.

In these talks, the names of prominent persons figured, he said and tabled a status report before the court urging that it should not be made public as probe was under way.

During the course of hearing, V R Manohar, counsel for Sharma, alleged that a diary was seized from Telgi in which names of 19 Ministers and cops was written. However, SIT had failed to proceed against them.

PTI