Karnataka: Eggs, a full 2 dozen, Abdul Kareem Telgi stacks them high in cell

Bengaluru: Once, hotly hunted by the country’s top law enforcement agencies for heading a multi crore counterfeit stamp paper racket, which had stretched across 72 towns and 18 states, an ailing and lonely Abdul Kareem Telgi is now spending his twilight years in jail, counting eggs, hoping he doesn’t break any!

Telgi is debilitated and suffering from life threatening chronic ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism and AIDS. He is lodged in the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara and under the court direction, has been prescribed a protein rich diet, largely comprising of eggs. Recently a prison officer during a routine visit found a stash of two dozen eggs in Telgi’s cell and asked him why he was hoarding eggs, when he could indent them as when he required from the prison pantry. “He looked apologetic but said nothing. He may be insecure about his health and wants to ensure that he got his daily diet of eggs,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

Telgi has lost weight and is wheel chair bound. He had sought an attendant to help him with his daily chores. A fellow convict has been allotted to him on court orders. “He has been allotted a cell. His movements are restricted and he keeps to himself. He hardly has any visitors. His wife is also ailing and his daughter, who used to visit him in jail earlier, has got married,” the officer added.

Telgi used to sell peanuts near the railway station in Khanapur in Belagavi district in the early 80s, In the 90s he tasted blood and got into racketeering by selling counterfeit stamps. He was arrested in Ajmer in November 2001 and has since been lodged in various prisons before he was sent to Bengaluru prison.