Prime accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket Abdul Kareem Telgi and four associates were sentenced to undergo ten years rigorous imprisonment by a Special Court on Saturday.

They were also fined by Judge Vishwanath V Angadi Rs 50,000 each, failing which they would have to undergo another one year rigorous imprisonment.

The pronoucement of the sentence came a day after the special court convicted them, finding them five guilty of forgery and cheating the government and a private company of Rs 42.75 lakh.

The other four convicted are: Bhadruddin, Irfan Ahmed, Wazir Ahmed Salik and Pradeep Kumar.

The five were partners in Cauvery Enterprises, which forged documents including the challan receipt of RBI and used fake embossing seal of the Central bank on a sale deed related to a company.

The case, registered in 2003, is one of the 28 investigated by CBI. Advocate Anees Ali Khan who had argued for the associates of Telgi said the verdict would be challenged in a higher court. M T Nanaiah appeared for Telgi.