Bhujbal denies Telgi paid him bribe for favours

Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday denied that he or his family was involved in the fake stamp paper racket.

Reacting to the report of the Narco Analysis Test submitted by Special Investigating Team in a special court, Bhujbal said, "I do not know what is in the report but the scientific tests quoted by the SIT should not be relied upon as the results depend a lot on the motive behind such tests.

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"Earlier, a police officer had alleged that he was pressured by the SIT to indict some political figures. We will have to check out whether the new report claimed by SIT is part of such a campaign."

According to the report, Samajwadi Janata Party MLA Anil Gote and former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had helped Telgi in getting a stamp vending licence in 1994. However, it was cancelled in 1995 due to some allegations made against him.

The Special Investigation Team had submitted the report to the court on Monday and only parts were available for the media with several names blanked out on the grounds that the case was of a sensitive nature.

Meanwhile, senior IPS officer S M Mushrif firmly ruled out 'any connection' with Telgi or the stamp scam.

Referring to his name cropping up in the Narco Analysis Test report, Mushrif said, "I am not connected to Telgi or even remotely related to him. The only occasion I came across him was during his interrogation."

The IPS officer, who is now Deputy Inspector General in charge of the State Reserve Police Force, had blown the lid off the alleged complicity of police officials in the racket.