The Special Investigation Team on Monday arrested Vijay Desai, an associate of Abdul Karim Telgi, prime accused in the fake stamp paper scam.

Desai had been absconding for nearly one-and-a-half years, SIT sources said, adding that he was being grilled.

The Telgi Scam: The Complete Coverage

The SIT expects to get from him details of Telgi's financial dealings, sources said.

According to the sources, Vijay chalked out retailing strategy for insurance, revenue and share transfer stamps business of Telgi and helped the scamster spread his business in financial centres like Ahmedabad and Delhi.

Vijay helped Telgi conduct surveys of major cities like Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore, Delhi to assess 'business potential', the sources said.

"Telgi was so impressed by the market potential of Ahmedabad that he had chalked out a massive plan to make the city his second major business centre after Mumbai and had even expressed desire to shift the production centre there," an SIT official said.