A key accused involved in circulating high quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in West Bengal has been sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by a special NIA court here, said an official statement issued on Tuesday.
Faijul Sk, a resident of Gopalganj area of Malda (West Bengal), has also been fined Rs 5,000. Failure to deposit the amount will attract an additional three months of rigorous imprisonment, added the statement.
The trial against three other accused, including an absconding Bangladeshi national, is continuing, said the statement issued by the National Investigation Agency.
Faijul was found involved in a 2019 case related to seizure of FICNs.
The seizure was made on September 16, 2019 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which recovered 99 fake notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and two in the denomination of Rs 500, totalling Rs 1,99,000 in face value, it said.
The currency was recovered from the possession of one Asim Sarkar, who was taken into custody.
NIA, which took over the investigation in October 2019, subsequently arrested Faijul Sk along with another accused, Aladu alias Matahur.
The fourth accused, a Bangladeshi national identified as Abdul Rahim, is absconding.
All the accused have been charge sheeted by the NIA, which found they collectively hatched a criminal conspiracy to procure and circulate high quality fake Indian currency notes with the intention to use them as genuine for unlawful gain, the statement said.
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