Friday, March 4 2005 15:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Abdul Karim Telgi, held in custody in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam has urged the Home secretary of Maharashtra Government to allow him to mix freely with fellow prisoners, relatives, advocates and co-accused as he is suffering from depression and mental pressure in solitary confinement.

Seeking sympathetic action, Telgi, in a letter to the Home Secretary of Maharashtra, said he has been placed in solitary confinement, in a special egg-shaped cell, which curtails his movement and mixing with other inmates and under trials.

According to Telgi, his medical reports show that he is suffering from HIV/AIDS, heart disease, ear problem, hypertension and diabetes.

He has stated that due to constant mental pressure and solitary confinement, his ailments have aggravated. He has said that his CD-H count (serious condition in HIV/AIDS) has gone down to 282 as against the normal 800-1,200. "My blood sugar level is 450-500 as against the required 80-120," Telgi has written in his letter, a copy of which was available to sources.

Telgi's two nephews, Tabrez and Parvez, and his seven other relatives were also lodged at Yerwada Jail at Pune along with his lawyer, Abdul Rasheed Kulkarni. He states in the letter that he faces no threat from these people and hence be lodged with them. The letter says, "Please allow me to mix, mingle, talk, share company with co-prisoners, my relatives, my advocate and other accused in the fake stamp paper case."