Belagavi: Hardly any friends, relatives, VIPs or political leaders attended the funeral of fake stamp paper kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi or Karim Lala at his hometown Khanapur, near Belagavi, on Saturday.
Though he had given them large amounts of money during his heydays, none of them came to pay their last respects.
Soon after the ambulance carrying his body reached the house, his wife Rihana, daughter Sana and nephew Irfan Talikoti entered into a verbal duel with Lala's brother Abdul Azim's family, accusing them of not extending any support after the stamp paper scam kingpin was arrested.
Sana asked Abdul Azim and his sons to leave the house and told them not to attend the funeral. She said that her family would take care of the funeral rituals and that there was no need for any relatives to attend the funeral.Abdul Azim tried to convince Telgi’s family that he was not allowed to meet Telgi when he was in the hospital in Bengaluru recently. Abdul Azim's two sons tried to attack Talikoti when the argument heated up, but the police intervened.Families of Abdul Azim and several Lala's relatives decided to stay away from the funeral as Sana insisted that they go away. About 2,000 people gathered at Lala's ancestral house as soon as his body was brought and some of his family friends from Telgi village, Bijapur district, were also present.
The funeral prayers were conducted at Bahar Galli Mosque in the town before it was taken to the burial ground on the town’s outskirts at 2 pm. Lala's nephew Talikoti took the lead and performed the rituals at the graveyard too.
Sources close to the family said that Telgi had spent large amounts of money on several social events, sports activities, weddings of the poor and mosques for many years till he was jailed 16 years ago.
He had helped a large number of unemployed youth from his town get jobs using his contacts. Many from Khanapur would stay with him whenever they went to Mumbai, where he had many properties until they were all seized after his arrest.
