NIA court convicts two Nuh residents held with ₹1.20 crore in fake notes

The convicts, identified as Najmuddin, alias Najmu, and Kasim, were arrested from Gurugram on a tip-off; a total of 6,000 notes of ₹2,000 denomination were seized from their possession

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Panchkula has convicted two Nuh residents who were arrested with ₹1.20 crore in counterfeit currency notes of denomination ₹2,000 from Gurugram in 2019.

The accused were using very high-quality paper to photocopy the notes to ensure they were not easily detectable. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The convicts, identified as Najmuddin, alias Najmu, and Kasim, were arrested from Gurugram on a tip-off. A total of 6,000 notes of ₹2,000 denomination were seized from their possession. The court will pronounce the quantum of the sentence on Thursday in what was termed as the largest seizure of counterfeit notes from Gurugram since demonetisation in 2016.

“The accused Kasim and Najmuddin have been held guilty and convicted for committing offences punishable under Section 120-B IPC read with Sections 489-A, 489-B, 489-C and 489-D IPC and Sections 489-A, 489-B, 489-C and 489-D IPC,” read the order of the court of special judge Rajeev Goyal on May 30.

The accused were using very high-quality paper to photocopy the notes to ensure they were not easily detectable. The security features of currency notes, such as the watermark and the security thread, looked similar to real currency.

During interrogation, the accused had revealed that the notes were scanned and later printed on sheets of paper through a photocopier before being cut and arranged in bundles. The accused confessed that they had scanned 20 different notes, out of which the serial number of three was found in the bundles.

As per the prosecution, Kasim was the suspected kingpin of the gang involved in the printing and circulation of fake currency notes. He was also responsible for fixing meetings and organising video conferences with potential buyers before the delivery to gain their confidence that these notes were fake Indian currency note (FICN).

A case was registered under Section 489 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sadar police station on May 29, 2019. The court had framed charges against the accused on October 5, 2019.