Scam 2003: The Telgi Story

A job opportunity brings Abdul Karim Telgi, a fruit seller from Khanpur, to Bombay. When he is arrested for forgery nine years later, he meets Kaushal Jhaveri in prison and joins his gum wash operation. However, fining the business unscalable, Abdul comes up with the idea to pivot into the world of stamp papers.

Abdul successfully begins to steal official stamp papers from trains, but needs a licence to sell them in bulk. Against Kaushal’s wishes, he uses political connections to try and acquire one from the Old Custom House but fails. To make matters worse, Kaushal, feeling betrayed, leaves Abdul’s side.

Abdul manages to acquire a license through political contacts but turns his back on the minister that helped him by allying with the new party in power. He ends up losing his license and going back to prison, where he meets a mechanic from Nashik who introduces him to the source of stamp papers - the Nashik Security Press.

Abdul formulates a strategy to get the management of the Nashik Press on his side and facilitates the promotion of their top bureaucrat. He gets the original machines, dyes and papers from the press and starts printing stamp papers. Although he expands his business, he soon learns that, to truly flourish, he must wipe out his biggest competitor.

By manipulating the shutdown of the press and the supply chain of the Old Custom House, Abdul monopolizes the stamp market. His success having caught the attention of many, Abdul begins to befriend every new and bigger power in the state.

Abdul grapples with the aftermath of his splurge by re-dealing with the various personnel on his payroll. However, he turns down Sheikh’s request to fund the Karnataka government's attempt to free a recently kidnapped superstar. Sheikh, in return, gets one of Abdul’s tempos caught, cornering him into making the payout. Despite the payment, Karnataka Police arrests Abdul from Ajmer.

An SIT is formed in Bangalore under Suryapratap Gehlot to investigate the stamp paper case. During investigation, he almost reaches Abdul’s printing press. Nevertheless, he finds ink cans and proves in court that Abdul is illegally printing stamp papers. Rattled, Abdul makes a deal with Pune officer DCP Halani to transfer him to Pune. However, Gehlot is on to Abdul.

Jaisingh’s investigation begins and it threatens everyone involved with Abdul. When no one pays heed to his investigative report, Jaisingh and Gehlot arrest Abdul from his home and take him back to Bangalore. Jaisingh’s report is leaked to the media and suddenly, without warning, everyone – small and big – is under the spotlight.

Jaisingh and Gehlot arrest Abdul’s bureaucrat and police associates in Maharashtra and Karnataka, but the politicians remain untouched. While Abdul faces a tell-all narco test, the pressure mounts and a decision is taken to dissolve the SITs. With the case transferred to a central agency and his family facing the brunt, can Abdul remain stoic, or will his resolve finally break?