2018 fake currency case: NIA court in Ahmedabad convicts two persons, awards jail

The accused were convicted on Tuesday following vigorous pursual of the trial in the case registered initially in 2018 by Gujarat Police

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad convicted two accused in a fake currency conspiracy case under which counterfeit notes were sought to be circulated in the state after being procured from West Bengal, the NIA said on Wednesday.

A chargesheet was filed against the accused and vigorous pursual of the trial over three years. (Representative file image)

The accused were convicted on Tuesday following vigorous pursual of the trial in the case registered initially in 2018 by Gujarat Police.

One of the accused, Sanjaykumar Mohanbhai Devaliya of Gujarat’s Junagadh, has been awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 489B and 489C of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), NIA said in a statement.

The other accused, known as Tahir or Kaliya, has been awarded 7 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹10,000 under Section 489C of the IPC, it added.

The case was originally registered in 2018 by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on specific inputs shared by the NIA, which had later taken over the investigation.

During the NIA’s investigation, it was revealed that Devaliya had travelled by air to Kolkata and then proceeded to New Farakka Junction by train.

“It was at this location, on October 17, 2018, that he met Tahir and exchanged genuine Indian currency worth ₹20,000 for the fake currency. Subsequently, Sanjaykumar was arrested in Gujarat while being in possession of the counterfeit notes,” it said.

During the course of investigations, NIA recorded statements of witnesses including under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and took voice samples of the accused, scrutinised mobile records, and collected other documentary evidence to unearth the conspiracy and gather prosecutable evidence, it said.

A chargesheet was filed against the accused and vigorous pursual of the trial over three years finally resulted in the conviction of two accused.