From Assam to B'luru: NIA blows lid off fake currency

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a resident of Assam’s Kamrup district, who was allegedly part of a Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) racket and was involved in the collection of such notes from across the border and circulation in Bengaluru.

An NIA official described Akbar Ali as the “kingpin” of the fake note network in the country. A reward of Rs 25,000 was announced for Ali’s his arrest over a case registered by the NIA’s Hyderabad office in 2015. An NIA team from Hyderabad on Thursday arrested Ali, a resident of Goroimari village in Kamrup district, about 50 km west of Guwahati, from Kotahbari.

“Investigation revealed that Ali had come to Bengaluru from Assam in 2007 and was working in a flower shop. He was introduced into the FICN business by another accused Hakim, who is known to be his uncle. Akbar Ali was instrumental in forming a gang at Bengaluru which was involved in trafficking and circulating the high-quality FICN. He was part of a larger conspiracy along with other accused persons mostly based in Malda, West Bengal, in smuggling high-quality FICN from across the international border with an intention to threaten the monetary stability of India. The proceeds from the circulation of FICN were deposited into the bank accounts of accused persons and their associates based at Malda,” the NIA said in a statement.

The case relates to the seizure of fake Indian currency worth Rs 5.01 lakh from one Saddam Hossain in September 2015 in Visakhapatnam. “During the investigation, it was revealed that accused Saddam had travelled to Malda from Bengaluru on the instructions of Amirul Hoque, another accused, and collected the FICN from another gang member Roustam on four occasions in 2015 and was part of a larger group of persons involved in the smuggling of FICN from across the international border and circulating it in Bengaluru,” the statement added.

During the investigation, the names of other members of the gang and their associates from Malda and Bengaluru came to light, the NIA said.

The NIA had already filed charge sheets against Saddam Hossain and Amirul Hoque on July 29, 2016, and August 12, 2016, respectively and against Roustam and Hakim on July 24 this year.