Bihar fake currency seizure case: NIA court sentences seventh accused to 9-year jail

A special NIA court in Bihar has sentenced a man to nine years of rigorous imprisonment in a case of fake currency seizure in East Champaran district, making him the seventh person to be convicted in the case, an official said on Sunday.

The convict was identified as Umar Faruk of West Bengal.

The case pertains to the seizure of high-quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN) with a face value of Rs 5.94 lakh from Afroz Ansari on September 19, 2015, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

Ansari was carrying the consignment to Raxaul near the Indo-Nepal border for further delivery across the border. The case was re-registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on December 23, 2015.

The spokesperson said the investigation had revealed that Faruk was supplying FICN from Kaliachak in Malda in West Bengal to the main accused, Kabir Khan, for further supplying it to one accused in Birgunj in Nepal.

The special NIA court sentenced Faruk to five years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and to nine years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 under different sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official said.

Eight persons were arrested and charge-sheeted in the case between 2016 and 2023.

Four of them — Afroz Ansari, Sunny Kumar alias “Sunny Shaw” alias “Sujit Kumar” alias ” Kabir Khan”, Ashraful Alam alias “Ishraful Alam”, and Alomgir Seikh alias “Raju” — were sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 30,000 in October 2018.

In August 2023, two other accused were convicted. Raisuddin was sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5000 and Munna Singh to 10-years rigourous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000, the agency stated.