7 yrs rigorous imprisonment for counterfeit currency case convicts
text_fieldsAhmedabad: A special NIA court on Wednesday convicted two people who were accused in a fake currency note case and sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment.
The two convicts were Vinod Nishad alias "Vinod Sahni" alias "Binod Kumar" of Bihar and Mehfooz Shaikh of Gujarat, and they were accused in the Surat counterfeit currency case registered in 2019, PTI reported.
"Both the accused were convicted under sections 489B, 489C, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and slapped with fine," a National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, the case was originally registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Regional Unit Surat. The DRI received credible intel that Nishad, a resident of Muzaffarpur, was arriving at Surat from Bihar by train to deliver Indian counterfeit notes in 2019.
Both Nishad and Shaikh were arrested by the DRI on June 5.
It was on July 20, 2019, the NIA took over the case. It filed a charge sheet against the accused for possessing and circulating fake Indian currency having a face value of Rs 2 lakh on August 31 of the same year.
"The investigations revealed that the accused are habitual criminals. They brought fake currency notes to Surat for the purpose of circulating them to damage the robust monetary system of India."
"The NIA proved the criminal conspiracy by presenting 13 prosecution witnesses before the special court, Ahmedabad," the spokesperson informed.