Congress sees JD (S) hand behind release of CD on Telgi

The Congress party in Karnataka has dubbed the release of a video tape of the multi billion rupee fake stamp paper scam’s alleged mastermind Abdul Karim Telgi’s confession during a narco analysis test as an “attempt to divert public attention” from the bribery charges levelled against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his family members.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary Prakash Rathod openly suspected the role of the JD (S) behind the release of the three-year-old video tape of Telgi’s confessions.

The video tape has been released at a time when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his family members are finding it difficult to duck the series of charges of corruption levelled against them.

Though Telgi had named former Minister and Congress MLA R Roshan Baig during the narco analysis test along with Federal Minister Sharad Pawar and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Rathod said the Congress party had never shielded any of those involved in the scam. “In the fake stamp paper scam, it was the then Congress Government in Karnataka headed by S M Krishna, which had the scam unearthed and got Telgi arrested”, he said.

Meanwhile, R Roshan Baig said the release of the video tapes is a “political plant”. “The CBI had investigated the charges levelled by Telgi. I had appeared thrice before the investigating agencies and they could not find anything against me”, he said.

Rathod said the narco analysis test on Telgi was conducted three years ago in the wake of which the then Maharashtra Home Minister Chagan Bhujpal had resigned.

KPCC President M Mallikarjun Kharge also sought to downplay the contents of the video tape. He said the names revealed by Telgi had been already been discussed three years ago when the narco analysis test was conducted. The CBI had conducted an inquiry into it. “So, what is new about it”, he said.

The narco analysis had been conducted on Abdul Karim Telgi on December 22, 2003 at the Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Victoria Hospital in Bangalore. The doctors had injected a combination of dextrose and sodium penthanol mixed with water, which made Telgi chattier and answer various questions posed by the experts.

However, experts from the judiciary and senior police officials contend that the narco analysis report could only be used as a tool for investigation and not as evidence in the court of law.

Many forensic scientists and senior police officers agree that the confessions during a narco analysis test cannot be used as evidence. “When a person is injected with chemicals, the person becomes less inhibitive and speaks spontaneously. But, not necessarily the truth. He can manipulate things and even try to mislead”, a senior forensic expert said.