Visakhapatnam, March 3 – A Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Visakhapatnam has convicted seven accused and sentenced them to imprisonment in a 2015 case involving fake Indian currency notes (FICN).
The court has imposed varying sentences of simple imprisonment (SI), ranging from 7 to 10 years, along with fines against the arrested accused under different provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA said in a press release on Tuesday.
The accused, who hail from Assam, West Bengal, and Karnataka, have been identified as Saddam Hossain, Roustum, Amirul Hoque, Mohammad Hakim Sheikh, Saddam Hussien, Sayed Imran, and Mohammed Akber Ali.
The fake currency conspiracy, which involved trafficking high-quality FICN through the India-Bangladesh border and its circulation across various parts of the country, was aimed at disrupting India's financial security, according to the NIA's investigation into the case.
According to the court orders, Saddam Hossain of Barpeta District, Assam, will have to undergo 10 years of simple imprisonment (SI) and pay a fine of Rs. 5,000 under Section 16 of the UA (P) Act. The accused was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Visakhapatnam, in September 2015, following the seizure of high-quality FICN, with a face value of Rs. 5,01,500, at Visakhapatnam Railway Station while he was travelling by train.
Amirul Hoque, also of Barpeta, has to undergo 10 years SI with a fine of Rs. 5,000 (or an additional 1 year SI in case of default in payment) under Section 18 of the UA (P) Act.
Rostum of Malda district, West Bengal, has been sentenced to 7 years of SI and a fine of Rs. 2,000 under Section 20 of the UA (P) Act, with an additional 8 months SI in the event of default in fine payment.
The court has sentenced Mohammed Hakim Sheik of Malda to 8 years SI and a fine of Rs. 5,000 (or one more year of SI) under Section 18 of the UA (P) Act.
Saddam Hussein of Bengaluru district in Karnataka has been sentenced to 7 years SI and a fine of Rs. 2,000 under Section 20 of the UA (P) Act, with an additional 8 months SI in case of default. A similar sentence has been passed against Sayed Imran of Mandya district, Karnataka, and Md. Akbar Ali of Kamrup district (Assam). Sayed Imran is also a convict in another NIA Visakhapatnam FICN case.
The NIA, which took over the instant case in December 2015, had chargesheeted accused Saddam Hossain in July 2016, followed by supplementary chargesheets against the other six accused during 2018 and 2019.