NIA arrests key accused in fake Indian currency notes smuggling case

The NIA has arrested a man who was allegedly part of a syndicate involved in smuggling of fake Indian currency notes (FICN).

The accused, Saddam Hussain (23), was arrested from here on Tuesday for the possession of FICN having face value of Rs 26,000, including two demonetised Rs 1,000 currency notes, a statement issued today by the NIA said.

"Accused Saddam Hussain is part of a larger network involved in the smuggling of the FICN from across the border and circulating the same in various parts of the country, including Bengaluru, after obtaining it from his associates in Malda, West Bengal," it said.

The case relates to seizure of high-quality FICN of face value of Rs 5.01 lakh from the possession of another man, Saddam Hossain, at Vizag in 2015.

During investigation it was revealed that Hossain had travelled to Malda from Bengaluru on the instructions of an accused, Amirul Hoque, and collected the FICN from another accused, Roustam, on four occasions, the National Investigation Agency said.

The ?NIA Hyderabad branch had filed charge sheets against Hossain and Hoque on July 29, 2016 and August 12, 2016 respectively and subsequently arrested Roustum alias Hasmath on April 10 this year and one Mohammed Hakim alias Hakim on January 26 this year, it said.

Saddam Hussain is a close associate of the other accused persons and he had procured FICNs from them for circulation in Bengaluru, the NIA said.