Bihar fake currency case: NIA sentences 5 years rigorous imprisonment to key accused

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Saturday (August 19) sentenced a key accused in the East Champaran, Bihar fake currency case to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI), along with fines, on multiple charges.

"The accused, Raisuddin, has been sentenced to 5 years RI with a fine of Rs. 5000 under section 120B of IPC, with similar quantum of sentence and fine also awarded respectively under section 489B r/w 120B of IPC, section 16 of UA(P) Act, section 18 of UA(P) Act, and section 20 of UA(P) Act. All the sentences will run concurrently," said the statement of NIA.

Raisuddin, who is a resident of Mohanpur under Vaishnavnagar Police Station, in Malda District of West Bengal, is the fifth person to have been convicted and sentenced in the case relating to the East Champaran, Bihar, Fake Indian Currency Notes case.

What was the case?

The case dates back to 2015, when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Patna recovered and seized high quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) of face value of Rs. 5,94,000 from another accused, Afroz Ansari. Afroz, who was carrying this consignment of FICNs to Raxaul near the Indo-Nepal border for further delivery in Nepal. The DRI initially registered a case on September 19 in 2015 in the matter.

NIA had subsequently taken over the case and re-registered it on December 23 in 2015.

"Thorough investigations by NIA had led to the arrest and charge sheeting of eight accused persons over the last 8 years, on 22nd July 2016, 17th April 2017, 19th March 2019 and 5th July 2023. Of these, four accused, namely Afroz Ansari, Sunny Kumar @ Sunny Shaw @ Sujit Kumar @ Kabir Khan, Ashraful Alam @ Ishraful Alam and Alomgir Seikh @ Raju, were convicted by the NIA Special Court on 11th October 2018. They were sentenced for life and fined Rs 30,000 each. Trial proceedings against the remaining three accused are ongoing," noted the press release by NIA.