Who is the most intelligent criminal in history? Why?

Meet, Natwarlal- The Bunty of real life, the Ricky Bahl of his own kind.

Popularly known as Natwarlal, Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava was a lawyer who turned into the ‘great Indian conman’. He sold prized monuments of India and duped big shot industrialists with sheer ease.

He sold the Taj Mahal thrice!

Red Fort, he sold twice. He also sold the Rashtrapati Bhawan, and even the Parliament House of India (along with its 545 sitting members) to gullible foreigners by posing as a government official.

He was the king of disguises and even tried to forge the signature of Dr. Rajendra Prasad!

He had as many as 50 aliases and even forged signatures like a pro. They say, with merely a glance at a signature, he could create a replica. He duped the likes of Dhirubhai Ambani, the Birlas, and the Tatas for tons of cash by disguising himself as a social worker or a needy person.

They sentenced him to 113 years in prison; as if!

He had 100 cases charged on him and was wanted by the police of 8 states. He was arrested as many as 9 times but each time he managed to break away. The last notable escape he made was when he was 84, at New Delhi railway station, while he was being escorted by police from Kanpur jail to AIIMS in Delhi. The date was June 24, 1996, after which, he was never seen again.

He died twice.

He conned people even in his death. It was in 2009 when his lawyer asked that the 100s of pending cases on Natwarlal be dropped claiming that the conman had passed away on July 25, 2009. Now, he probably would have, because of the evident age factor. But, his brother claimed to have cremated Natwarlal in 1996 itself, which was 13 years before the lawyer made his announcement. How did the conman revive to die again, is a question that remains put.

In popular culture, Natwarlal’s work as a conman was seen as a clever art

And hence, Bollywood movies like Raja Natwarlal starring Emraan Hashmi in the lead and, Mr. Natwarlal starring Amitabh Bachchan were loosely inspired by the real Natwarlal’s shenanigans.

Also, I guess now you know why every fraudster is called Natwarlal in India.

They wished to establish his statue in his hometown; such was his fandom!

Despite being dead for years now, Natwarlal continues to hold awe, especially in Bangra, which is his native village in Bihar. People of his village decided to erect his statue in the exact spot where his house once stood, before being demolished by the British.