Bangalore: CBI sleuths today (May 26, 2004) carried out simultaneous raids in Bangalore and in Bellary and seized fake non-judicial stamp papers with a face value of Rs 1.5 crore following custodial interrogation of the scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi.

CBI said during the search operations at three places in Bangalore and two in Bellary, huge stocks of fake stamp papers in the denomination of Rs 5,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 100 were seized.

Interrogation of Telgi, now in CBI custody in Delhi, revealed that some printing presses were still active in printing fake stamp papers for supplying and circulating them in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the central agency said.

Telgi's disclosures, it said in a statement, were supported by "other pieces" of information which indicated that Janata Offset Printers in Bangalore was allegedly printing non-judicial fake stamp papers and it was also suspected of supplying fake stamps to M/S Citizen Enterprises, managed by late Rahim Telgi, brother of the prime accused in the scam.

The "nefarious activities" of Citizen Enterprises, which was selling fake stamps and stamp papers since 1996 and 1997, was one of the 48 fake stamp paper cases entrusted to CBI for investigation by a Supreme Court order.

Apart from Raghavendra Prasad, owner of Janata Offset Printers, his other associates -- Ramachandra, Munna Reddy, owners of Srinivas Printing Press, Bellary, and Mehboob Khan, owner of Dadaji Enterprises, Bellary, were being interrogated to "ascertain further details", it said.

Searches at a few other locations were in progress, to locate the photographic films and plates used for printing fake non-judicial stamp papers, the statement said.

The fake water marking was being done at the printing presses at Bellary, from where the material and equipments used for marking of plain papers have been seized.

Further investigation was in progress, the statement said.

A Pune court had last week remanded Telgi to the custody of CBI, which took him to Delhi for interrogation.