NIA court convicts 8 in Malda FICN smuggling racket case

A special NIA court in Kolkata has convicted eight people for allegedly running a fake Indian currency note (FICN) smuggling racket across the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, the federal probe agency said on Monday.

Barkat Ali (24), the kingpin of the racket, has been sentenced to six years in jail, with a fine of Rs 10,000, while Dalim (24), Anikul (42), Salim (33), Rahim (37), Tahir (34), Montu (34) and Biyol (35) have been given five years in jail along with Rs 10,000 fine each, they said.

They have been convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the UAPA.

The case dates back to 2015 when the Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended Ali with FICN with a face value of over Rs 64 lakh in West Bengal's Malda district that borders the India-Bangladesh international border.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) later re-registered the case in that year under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

All the accused pleaded guilty during trial, an NIA spokesperson said.

The chargesheet was filed against a total of ten accused out of which two are absconding, he said.

During investigation, the spokesperson said, it was found that the accused along with their associates had "hatched a criminal conspiracy" for procuring and circulating high quality FICN in India and they were active since 2014.

"Investigation also revealed that FICN was procured from Bangladesh and circulated via Indo-Bangladesh international border under the Baishnabnagar police station in Malda district," the spokesperson said.