Cuttack, Jan. 22: Over four years of delay, a fast-track court here has began the trial of seven persons accused of distributing fake stamp papers in Orissa.

Investigations had indicated that the clandestine operation was being carried out under a cloth dealership network and had links with Bihar and Bengal, with Cuttack as the nucleus, spreading to Puri, Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur and Balasore.

The findings had further indicated periodic dispatch of fake papers to Cuttack from Patna. The chargesheets had framed charges under Sections 258 (sale of counterfeit government stamp), 259 (possession of counterfeit government stamp), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 379, 411, 419, 120 (B) and 34 of the IPC.

The Orissa police had busted the racket following seizure of fake stamp papers worth Rs 1.5 lakh in Cuttack in September 2003.

The arrest of the “kingpin” Manoj Agarwal from Bengal, along with the fake papers from a city lodge, had led to arrests of Shankar Bhagat of Cuttack, Damodar Swain of Balasore, Chittaranjan Patra of Puri, Ratan Kumar Patra of Jagatsinghpur, Pramod Samal and Sanjeev Kumar Chinara from Bhubaneswar. The case had taken some unexpected turns since the arrests and registration of a case at Purighat police station on September 25, 2003. Probe on the case came under cloud when the CID crime branch moved the sub-divisional magistrate court for reinvestigation while the city police filed chargesheets against seven persons.

The CID crime branch subsequently formed a special investigating team when there was apparent similarities between the fake stamps of Abdul Karim Telgi distribution network seized in Karnataka and those seized in Cuttack. The fake stamps had since been subjected to scrutiny at the Government Security Press in Nasik.

The fast-track court, Cuttack, formally started trial on Monday with hearing on separate petitions moved by counsels for the seven accused. The petitions sought copies of the report of the Government Security Press on the stamp papers that were seized by the police.

The prosecution said the report is part of the confidential documents related to the case would be produced at an “appropriate time”.

The fast-track court judge, Chittaranjan Das, after hearing both sides reserved his judgment on the petitions. “The trial would begin after the verdict on the petitions is pronounced by the court,” said Hemanta Kumar Jena, public prosecutor.