KBC 14: Who among these was known for supposedly having sold Indian monuments like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament of India?
Options:
A) Natwarlal
B) Victor Lustig
C) Harshad Mehta
D) Charles Ponzi
Answer: Natwarlal
Natwarlal, born Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava, is perhaps the most fabled conman to have lived in this country. Born in Bangar, Bihar, Natwarlal discovered his talent for forgery and deception at a young age and after seeing the potential upswing in that particular career path, went about honing his skills immediately.
His father’s profession as a stationmaster helped him develop his first area of expertise, with rail freights often featuring as part of his initial cons, and his studies in commerce and a subsequent stint as a stockbroker armed him with the ins and outs of the banking industry and its rules- and thus the foundations of a bountiful career as a fraudster were built.
He used more than 50 aliases and duped hundreds of shop-owners, jewelers, banks, and of course foreigners with his disarming deceptions. In fact, even renowned industrialists like the Tatas, the Birlas, and Dhirubhai Ambani became victims of his cheating.
The most amazing con he is ever said to have pulled off was on a foreigner to whom he hilariously sold not just India’s parliament house, but also all the Members of Parliament themselves!
Equally amusing is the con he committed when he posed as a government official and got a gullible foreign tourist to actually buy the Taj Mahal– one of the Wonders of the World. And he managed to complete this transaction not once, but thrice! Apart from the Taj Mahal and the Parliament House, his other high-profile real-estate dealings involve the sale of the Red Fort and the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
He faced lengthy prison terms for his various misadventures, but true to fashion, was able to wriggle out of the inconvenient situations by conning the prison guards or cops.
Today, he is looked at as somewhat of a cult hero and a Robinhood-like figure in his hometown, Bangra.
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