Audacity Unmatched: The Con Artist Who Sold the Taj Mahal – Thrice

Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava (1912–2009), infamously known as Natwarlal, sold the Taj Mahal to a group of clueless foreigners. His audacity earned him the unofficial title of one of the most famous con men in the world. He was often compared to the Austro-Hungarian con artist Victor Lustig, known as "the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice."The son of a station master, Srivastava was born in the Siwan district of Bihar. His skill at forging signatures and withdrawing money from his unsuspecting neighbour’s bank account, after being sent to deposit their bank drafts, lured him into the “easy way” of earning money. According to reports he fled to Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) after he received a beating from his father.He began working as a casual stockbroker while pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree. His expertise in forging signatures and his knowledge of banking rules enabled him to successfully scam people.According to various reports, Srivastava decided to target gullible tourists, posing as a government official. He would try to sell historical monuments to them and, apparently, succeeded in selling the Taj Mahal three times. Reports also suggest that he duped foreigners into "buying" Rashtrapati Bhawan and the Red Fort.He faced numerous charges, including 14 cases of forgery in Bihar, and was sentenced to 113 years in prison. Yet, he even managed to con his way out of jail multiple times. At the age of 84, he was arrested for the last time. The year was 1996, but he managed to escape again and was never seen. There are conflicting reports about his death. His brother claimed to have cremated him in 1996, but his lawyer insisted that he died in 2009 and requested that the 100 cases against him be dropped.In his native village of Bangra, Siwan, he was regarded as a hero. He helped the less fortunate by distributing money among them. For them, he is the pride of their village. His escapades and life story inspired the film Mr. Natwarlal.