Scam 1992, the Sony Liv web series based on the stock market scam of 1992 committed by Harshad Mehta is being called one of the best Indian shows of this year.
The show has some powerful performances by actors like Pratik Gandhi, Satish Kaushik and Shreya Dhanwanthary and Rajat Kapoor. Rajat Kapoor, who played the character of CBI officer K Madhavan, has impressed the audience, particularly.
After watching Rajat Kapoor bring Madhavan’s character to reality, viewers got intrigued in knowing more about the fierce and honest police officer of the time.
Hailing from Thrissur in Kerala, Madhavan worked with the CBI and investigated some of the most high-profile cases in India.
We’ve all heard of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the first major industrial disaster, that occurred in 1984. Madhavan was involved in the investigation that followed. 8 Union Carbide officials were declared guilty in the case by the Supreme Court in 2010.
He went on to investigate even the Bofors Scandal in the late 1980s that involved big political names.
It was Madhavan who cracked the Swiss bank accounts of those who allegedly received kickbacks in the Bofors deal. But he was taken off the case on October 22, 1991.
In an interview with Rediff, he once said:
I had painstakingly completed nearly 80 % of the investigations into the Bofors scandal. In fact, it was the CBI team led by me which succeeded in cracking the Swiss accounts – Tulip, Lotus and Mount Blanc – held on behalf of the appellants (the three Hindujas brothers, Ottavio Quattrocchi and Win Chadha).
Known for his discipline and work ethics, Madhavan was also entrusted with the investigation of the securities scam of 1992.
He grilled Harshad Mehta, Bhupen Dalal and the other accused relentlessly. As he came closer to unravelling the truth, he was relieved of the inquiry on 8th August 1992.
After all this, the CBI officer took premature retirement from the CBI on November 1, 1992. It is believed that increasing political interference was becoming unbearable to his relentless investigative spirit in such high-profile cases.
After quitting CBI, he enrolled as an advocate and practiced law at the Supreme Court.
Known for his impartial investigative spirit, a one-man inquiry commission was set up by the BCCI under K Madhavan to probe the match-fixing scandal.
One of the finest CBI officers, K Madhavan even risked his job while investigating the cases he was entrusted with. He passed away earlier this year in January 2020, in Delhi, at the age of 83.