A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of Patna has awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment to a Nepali national over his involvement as a key accused in a fake currency case.
Abi Mohammad alias Nabi Mohammad Ansari, a native of Bara district in Nepal, was arrested from East Champaran.
He has been convicted and awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹5,000 under Section 120B of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) with a similar quantum of punishment and fine awarded under sections 489B and 489C of IPC and 16, 18, 20 of UA(P) Act, the NIA said in a statement.
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He is the second accused to be convicted in the case relating to the seizure of high-quality fake Indian currency notes, in the denomination of ₹500 with a total face value of ₹25.43 lakh on September 30, 2015.
On the day of the incident, the first convicted accused identified as Mohammad Ali Akhtar Ansari had come to Gati Kintetsu Express Private Limited in Raxaul, to take delivery of the fake currency and was arrested. He was awarded 20 years RI with a fine of ₹50,000 on July 18, 2022.
During investigations, Ali Akhtar Ansari disclosed that the seized currency notes were fake and were smuggled from a foreign country into India.
He further revealed that the consignment was assigned to be delivered to Nabi Mohammad of Nepal through him.
“Investigations further revealed that Syed Muhammad Shaffi, a Pakistan national residing in UAE, had couriered the parcel containing the fake currency from UAE through ICS (International Courier Service) to the arrested accused. The consignment had been sourced from a foreign country through a complex network of FICN traffickers, NIA investigations showed,” NIA added in the statement.
The case was initially registered by DRI, Muzaffarpur, Bihar on September 24, 2015 and re-registered by NIA on March 15, 2016.
Separate charge sheets were filed against the two accused, Mohammad Ali Akhtar Ansari and Abi Mohammad Ansari, on September 21, 2016 and October 14, 2017 respectively.
