Sold Taj Mahal thrice! Meet World’s biggest Conman who even sold Red Fort, Rashtrapati Bhavan, forged President’s signature, his name was…
Conmen are found everywhere, whether in India or abroad, but few earn fame for their crafty scams. One of India’s most notorious conmen was Natwarlal, whose cunning, skill, and daring scams are still remembered today. He didn’t just dupe innocent citizens, but Natwarlal became famous for selling some of the largest government buildings and historic monuments in India, more than once. His audacious scams even deceived foreigners; Natwarlal convinced them to “buy” Indian monuments. The story of Natwarlal is not merely a story of theft; it is about the imagination and audacity of a man who made fraud a performance and hit a high watermark of infamy in Indian history.
Who was Natwarlal? When did Natwarlal carry out his scams?
Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava was the actual name of India’s one-of-a-kind king of con men, Natwarlal. It is claimed that he possessed more than 50 fake identities that he used to commit thefts and scams. Using these fake names, he carried out some of the biggest cons all over the country. Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava, also known as Natwarlal, was born in 1912 in Siwan district’s Bangra village. He was the son of a station manager. Natwarlal discovered his legitimate gift of ‘forgers’ when he obtained a neighbour’s signature after they had asked him to deposit his bank drafts
What was his first known fraud? How did he trick people?
Natwarlal’s biggest strength was his exceptional talent for signature forging. Apparently, he could perfectly imitate a person’s signature with one glance. His first-ever theft was only 1,000 rupees, which he took from a bank using a neighbor’s forged signature. He then went on to cheat shopkeepers and businessmen of lakhs of rupees using fake cheques and demand drafts.
The devious fraudster had fraudulently signed his neighbour’s name so he could withdraw Rs 1,000 (a large sum at the time) from the neighbour’s account before the fraud was discovered, and the fraudster had to escape to Kolkata (then Calcutta), where he studied for a Bachelor of Commerce degree while also working as a casual stockbroker.
For a time, Mithilesh tried to mend his ways, but after his cloth business failed to succeed, he returned to fraud and forgery. Having grown up in a family that had a father who was a station master, he had some understanding of how India’s railway freight system worked. And while he had attended university and received a commerce degree, as well as briefly fibbed as a stockbroker, he had a rudimentary understanding of banking rules, and learned how to use them to his advantage as well.
Natwarlal was first arrested in 1937 after stealing nine tonnes of iron. After this incident, he changed tactics and started to rob sex workers of money and jewelry after drugging them with drugged liquor (alcohol). In time, Natwarlal found this to be a more dangerous method of taking money from victims and returned to con games and counterfeiting.
The most astonishing and incredulous scam committed by Natwarlal was selling the country’s historic monuments. You may find this hard to believe, but it is actually true that Natwarlal “sold” some of India’s finest structures to foreign buyers multiple times. He posed as a counterfeit government official and at least three times “sold” the Taj Mahal, at least twice “sold” the Red Fort, and once even “sold” the Rashtrapati Bhavan. On one occasion, he even managed to “sell” the Parliament House.
Who else did he deceive? How did he manage to escape punishment?
According to the legends, Natwarlal is even said to have “sold” key structures such as the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort (Lal Quila), and the Rashtrapati Bhavan using the forged signature of the then President of India to a foreign national. Natwarlal was an exceptional forger and is believed to have tricked many well-known Indian industrialists, from the Tatas and Birlas to even Dhirubhai Ambani, using forgeries to deceive them out of money.
Even though he committed crimes, it is reported that Natwarlal is regarded as something of a Robin Hood in his home village of Bangra, where he supposedly shared his stolen wealth with the poor and needy. His feats of defrauding wealthy individuals in a non-violent (and often humorous way) have become legendary in his home area. He reportedly would attract large crowds in Bangra whenever he visited.
One well-known tale pertains to Natwarlal, who once gave a great feast to an entire village in Bangra, and he gave every villager Rs 100, then disappeared. He is reported to have been arrested at least nine or ten times, and he nearly always escaped nonetheless with some new trick or method; for example, in 1957 he escaped from the Kanpur jail by bribing jail guards with a suitcase full of cash, wearing a police uniform smuggled into the jail, and then casually walking out the front gate, saluting the guards.
At a later moment, the jail guards had noticed that the suitcase he gave them contained old newspapers, not money, which made the situation humorous. Even though he was arrested several times, it’s said that Natwarlal spent only 20 years in jail, even though he was sentenced to several hundred years.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Natwarlal is even said to have “sold” key structures such as the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort (Lal Quila), and the Rashtrapati Bhavan
- He forged the signature of the then-President of India to a foreign national.
- He posed as a counterfeit government official and at least three times “sold” the Taj Mahal, at least twice “sold” the Red Fort.
- There are claims that Natwarlal died in 2009, while his family says he died in 1996.
Natwarlal was last arrested in 1996 when he was physically weak and confined to a wheelchair because of his advanced age (he was 84 years old at the time). As per media reports, he fled once more, an astounding feat given his fragile physical state. It was reported that Natwarlal was in police custody when he escaped while being transported from a Kanpur prison to AIIMS, Delhi, for medical treatment. He was never seen again. Natwarlal’s name surfaced for the last time in the year 2004, when Natwarlal’s lawyer claimed he was the executor of his will. There are claims that Natwarlal died in 2009, while his family says he died in 1996.
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