A significant defendant in the Malda counterfeit currency case has been found guilty and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) by the special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Kolkata. Accused Faijul Sk, a resident of Gopalganj in Malda, West Bengal, has also been fined Rs5,000, with an additional three months of RI imposed if the fine is not paid. The trial against three other defendants, including a fugitive Bangladeshi national, is ongoing. Faijul was convicted under sections 489B & 489C of the IPC and section 16 of the UA(P) Act, related to the case RC-23/2019/NIA/DLI involving the seizure of counterfeit Indian currency notes (FICNs).
The seizure, made on September 16, 2019 by the DRI, included 99 fake notes of the denomination Rs 2000 and two notes of Rs 500, amounting to a face value of Rs 1,99,000. The currency was confiscated from Asim Sarkar, who was arrested. The NIA, which assumed the investigation in October 2019, arrested Faijul Sk along with another defendant, Aladu alias Matahur. A fourth defendant, identified as Bangladeshi national Abdul Rahim, remains at large. All four defendants have been indicted by the NIA, which determined that they conspired to acquire and circulate high-quality counterfeit Indian currency notes with the intent to use them as genuine for illegal profit.
