Karnataka man gets five years in jail for circulating fake currency

Mangaluru: The Fourth Additional District and Sessions Court Judge, Sunitha SG has sentenced a man to five years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of circulating counterfeit currency. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict.

The accused, Abbas (57), a resident of Ira village in Bantwal taluk, attempted to earn money illegally by falsely claiming that he needed colour prints of currency notes for his children's project work. He then had Rs 100 denomination notes printed at a unit near the State Bank area, thereby creating counterfeit currency.

Abbas kept these fake notes in his possession with the intent to circulate them. On October 31, 2020, while attempting to use the counterfeit notes under the pretext of purchasing items at a shop near Morgan’s Gate Junction, Pradeep TR, Police Sub-Inspector of the CCB Unit, along with his team, conducted a raid. During the operation, authorities seized 11 counterfeit notes and two genuine currency notes from the accused.

Following this, a case was registered at Mangaluru South Police Station under Sections 489(b) and 489(c) of the IPC. Mangaluru South station SI Suresh Kumar led the investigation and later submitted a charge sheet to the court.

The court examined 13 witnesses and reviewed 14 documents before Judge Sunitha S G found Abbas guilty under Section 489(c) of the IPC for possessing counterfeit currency with the intent to circulate it.