Patna/New Delhi. A key accused in the East Champaran, ‘fake Indian currency notes’ case has been sentenced to seven years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) and fined in two separate cases by the NIA Special Court, Patna.
Abi Mohammad Ansari, hailing from Nepal’s Bara district, has been convicted and awarded 7 years RI and Rs. 5000 under Section 120B of IPC, with a similar quantum of punishment and fine also awarded under sections 489B and 489C of IPC and 16, 18, 20 of UA(P) Act. The sentences will run concurrently.
He is the second accused to be convicted in the case relating to the seizure of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). The high quality FICN, in the denomination of Rs. 500 with total face value of Rs. 25,43,000, was seized on 30th September, 2015. On that day, the other convicted accused, Mohd. Ali Akhtar Ansari had come to M/s Gati Kintetsu Express Private Limited, Raxaul, to take delivery of the fake currency and was arrested.
During investigations, Mohd. Ali Akhtar Ansari disclosed that the seized currency notes were fake and had been smuggled from a foreign country into India. He further revealed that the consignment was assigned to be delivered to Abi Mohammad @ Nabi Mohammad of Nepal through him.
Investigations further revealed that Syed Muhammad Shaffi, a Pakistani 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.
The case was initially registered by DRI, Muzaffarpur, Bihar on 24th September 2015 and re-registered by NIA on 15th March 2016. Separate chargesheets were filed against the two accused, Mohd. Ali Akhtar Ansari and Abi Mohammad Ansari, on 21st September, 2016 and 14th October, 2017 respectively.
Mohd. Ali Akhtar Ansari was awarded 20 years RI with fine of Rs. 50,000 on 18th July, 2022.