NIA court sentences Ishak Khan to five years in fake currency network case

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) A key accused in the notorious fake currency case in Mumbra, Thane district, has been sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Mumbai.

In addition to the imprisonment, Ishak Khan has been fined Rs. 10,000 on various charges, with all sentences running concurrently, said NIA in a release on Wednesday.

Ishak Khan was one of the three individuals arrested in connection with the recovery of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) worth Rs 82,000, in Rs 500 denominations, in 2019.

The counterfeit currency was discovered at the residence of one of the accused, Jasim @ Wasim Salim Shaikh, who was initially apprehended by Mumbra police. His questioning led the police to arrest Karnataka-based Radhakrishna Addappa. The duo was chargesheeted by the police in August 2019, says NIA.

The case, however, was later transferred to the NIA, which re-registered it under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 489B (using forged currency notes), 489C (possession of forged currency notes), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

NIA’s investigation uncovered a deeper conspiracy with significant involvement from Khan, who was already imprisoned in Kolkata for another crime at the time of the FICN operation.

The investigation revealed that Khan had coordinated the delivery of fake currency to Shaikh while incarcerated, orchestrating a wide-reaching network of counterfeit currency circulation.

The NIA’s probe also included a detailed and thorough examination of digital and documentary evidence. This examination included Call Detail Records (CDRs) of mobile communications that linked the accused to the counterfeit currency operation. These findings led to a supplementary chargesheet being filed in January 2021, accusing all three of the involved individuals.

Following a lengthy legal process, Ishak Khan pleaded guilty before the NIA Special Court, leading to his conviction and sentencing. The trial for the other two accused, Shaikh and Addappa, is still ongoing.

The conviction marks a significant development in the ongoing efforts of the NIA to curb the circulation of counterfeit currency, which remains a major concern for the Indian economy, say officials.

--IANS

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