New Delhi: Four individuals have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) by a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a 2018 fake Indian currency note (FICN) case involving cross-border links with Bangladesh.
The NIA special court convicted two of the accused on Monday, and two others on Tuesday, in the case linked to seizure of 203 counterfeit Indian currency notes (FICNs) with a total face value of Rs 4.78 lakh. These notes were seized from five individuals at a paan shop near Sai Dhaba in Wadape, Bhiwandi, located in Thane district, Maharashtra, in October 2018.
The local police arrested five individuals following the seizure of the fake currency notes. These individuals were identified as Rehan Abbas Shaikh, Shafahad Mukhtar Ansari, Anees Iklakh Shaikh, Kishor Namdeo Fular, and Rohit Nagendra Singh. The NIA took over the investigation in December 2018, and subsequent inquiries led to the arrest of four additional accused: Samir Mandal, Sabir Ali, Abdul Kadir, and Mohammad Shadab Khan. The NIA filed charges against a total of nine individuals between January 2019 and April 2021.
Of the arrested individuals, Rehan Shaikh, Shafahad Ansari, Rohit Singh, and Abdul Kadir had previously pleaded guilty. Two accused, Samir Mandal and Mohammad Shadab Khan, were sentenced to 7 years and 5 years of rigorous imprisonment, respectively, on Monday. They were convicted under Sections 489B, 489C, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were fined Rs 10,000 for each section, with additional imprisonment in case of default.
Two more individuals, Anees Iklakh Shaikh and Kishor Namdeo Fular, were on Tuesday sentenced to 5 years and 9 months of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 10,000 each, under the same charges, with provisions for further imprisonment in case of default.
Karim Shaikh, a Bangladeshi national, has been identified as the key accused in the case but remains absconding. Investigations are ongoing into his role in the international FICN racket, which spans across Bangladesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and other parts of India.
According to the NIA, the accused were involved in circulating fake currency notes in various Indian cities. They would often purchase small items at highway shops, tendering fake notes in Rs 2000 denominations and requesting the shopkeepers to keep the change. The conspiracy was orchestrated by Anees Shaikh of Mumbai and Samir Mandal from West Bengal. Another accused, Abdul Kadir, coordinated with and procured the fake currency from Karim Shaikh across the Bangladesh-India border. Kadir would deliver the counterfeit currency to Samir Mandal through his brother Sabir Ali.
The investigation revealed that Samir Mandal and Anees Shaikh worked together, with Anees instructing Mohammad Shadab Khan to collect FICNs from Kolkata. Anees also recruited Rehan Shaikh and Kishor Fular, who lived in his neighbourhood, to circulate the fake currency across India with the assistance of Shafahad Ansari and Rohit Singh. Abdul Kadir maintained contact with Karim Shaikh and other Bangladeshi nationals via mobile phone during the period of the conspiracy in 2018.
(IANS)
