Abdul Karim Telgi, main accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam, allegedly ensured the release of one of his consignments seized at the Mumbai airport though he was behind bars.
Telgi spoke to a member of the Crime Branch unit at Sahar airport, the Special Investigation Team, probing the scam, alleged on Monday.
Two officers of the Crime Branch unit in Sahar airport had seized the consignment following a raid in Andheri on May 21, 2002. Some of Telgi's men were also rounded up. The following day, all the men and the consignment were released following the telephonic conversation, an SIT official told PTI in Mumbai.
The SIT is probing how Telgi got hold of a mobile phone inside the jail, but claimed to have evidence to back their claim about him speaking to a Crime Branch official.
The revelation has come after the SIT arrested Sahar Crime Branch unit chief Senior Inspector Vashisht Andale, and two other cops, on Saturday in connection with the case.
The other two - ACP Gokul Patil and Sub-Inspector Prabhakar Kakade - faltered in confiscating printing machine Telgi used to print fake stamp paper.
The duo had come to close to confiscating the machine, but did not do so for reasons unknown so far, the SIT official said.