Special NIA court jails 3 for 5 years in fake Indian currency circulation case

A special NIA court here on Friday convicted and sentenced three persons for their involvement in circulating Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) after procuring them from Bangladesh via the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Amerul, 40, Alam Sekh, 24 and Asim Kumar Saha, 36, all residents of Malda, West Bengal, have been convicted under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an NIA spokesperson said.

Saha has also been convicted in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The court accepted their 'plead guilty' petitions and convicted them of all charges.

Amerul, Sekh and Saha have been jailed for five years and fined Rs 15,000, Rs 11,000 and Rs 21,000 respectively, the official said.

On May 12, 2015, Kaliachak Police in a joint operation with the BSF had seized high-quality FICN with a face value of Rs 9,00,000 in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, and 800 grams of opium from the possession of Sunesh Kumar and Rajen Kumar in Malda, the NIA official said.

Both were arrested and charged with the relevant sections of the IPC and NDPS Act. The NIA re-registered the case on June 12, 2015 and added a section of UA(P) Act.

After completion of investigation, the NIA filed charge sheets against eight accused, including one absconding Bangladeshi national.

On September 24 last year, three of them were convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 each.

The accused and their associates, who were active since 2014, had hatched a criminal conspiracy for circulating FICN in India after procuring it from Bangladesh, the NIA official said.

They planned to circulate the FICN via the Indo-Bangladesh International border in different parts of India, the official said.

Trial against the remaining two accused will continue, the official added.