Bombay police chief sent on leave

RS Sharma was questioned for two days (Photo courtesy of Rane Ashish, Mid Day/Mumbai)

The police chief of the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai), under investigation in connection with an alleged fake stamp paper scam, has been sent on leave.

The alleged fraud, worth nearly $650m - said to be the biggest in India's history - involves printing and selling fake government legal papers.

The scandal came to light last year and has led to investigations in seven Indian states.

So far 58 people have been arrested in connection with the scam.

They include 14 policemen and two legislators.

Phone taps

Correspondents say the Bombay police chief, RS Sharma, is unlikely to return work as he is retiring on 30 November.

Last week, a senior police officer from the western city of Pune was arrested for his alleged involvement in the case.

Matters came to light in June last year with the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the racket, Abdul Karim Telgi, who comes from the southern state of Karnataka.

A special investigating team set up to probe the scam has been listening to 56 audio-tapes of telephone conversations that it has obtained from the Karnataka police.

The team has already questioned Mr Sharma for more than 10 hours over the last two days in connection with the alleged fraud.