Bhaswar Mukherjee calls himself an accidental writer. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from IIM-Bangalore. After close to 18 years in multinational banks, he quit in 2005 to set up his own company, Bridgepoint Solutions Pvt Ltd, which provides consultancy and learning solutions in the banking domain. His short story, Unrequited, was selected in a contest by Readomania and was one of the two winning entries. Acceptance was selected by Sudha Murty and published by Penguin India. Another story, Garib Rath, was picked up by author Ravinder Singh for his anthology entry. Bhaswar has contributed to 11 anthologies and his solo anthology, It Happens: Stories of Human Relationships, was published in May 2020.
Telgi and the stamp scam? Didn’t that happen a quarter of a century ago? Why now? Because the complete story of the counterfeiter and scamster has never been told before. Because the story of the sheer innovation and audacity of an underdog needs to be told. Because the complex web of corruption involving lawmakers and law-keepers continues. Because the crime has all the overtones of a Bollywood potboiler, replete with chases, corrupt government officials and policemen, political chicanery, bar dancers and yes, a murder too! Because of the many unanswered questions that remain, so many years after the crime and the death of Abdul Karim Ladsaab Telgi in 2017. How was it possible for a man like Telgi to establish a pan-India ‘business’ in 74 cities and reach such dizzying heights of power and pelf, amassing a personal wealth of over Rs 17,000 crore while swindling the economy to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore? How did he manage to undermine the hallowed institutions of India? What was the size of the scam? How did CBI peg the figure at a mere fraction of the guesstimated amount? The Counterfeiter... chronicles the audacious swindle by the flamboyant mastermind in a blow-by-blow account of its execution, investigation, charge sheets, legal developments, Telgi’s incarceration, trial, death – and finally exoneration. An unputdownable true-crime dossier!
