NIA arrests key FICN racketeer from West Bengal

The NIA arrested a person from West Bengal's Malda district on Thursday for his alleged involvement in circulating fake Indian currency notes in the country with the help of his Bangladeshi associates after these were smuggled from across the border, an official said.

Enamul Haque, 46, who was carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 on information leading to his arrest, had been absconding since 2018, an NIA spokesperson said.

He was arrested from Malda's Mohanpur village, he said.

Haque was wanted for his role in running a well-organised fake Indian currency note (FICN) racket along with his Bangladeshi associates for circulating these in various parts of southern India, the spokesperson said.

The case, originally registered on March 31, 2018 in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The NIA filed charge sheets against Mohammed Mahaboob Baig, Syed Imran, Firoj Sheikh and Tajamul Sheikh before a special court in Vijayawada in 2018 and 2019.

After the completion of trial, the NIA court on June 26 last year sentenced Baig and Imran to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them. The trial against Firoj and Tajamul is continuing.

Haque had played a key role in procuring FICN from his associates across the Indo-Bangladesh border and providing it to his associates Baig and Imran for circulation in India, the NIA official said.

He also harboured Baig and Imran in 2018 by arranging accommodation for them in Malda, the official said.

A team of NIA arrested him from Malda with the assistance of the BSF. The accused will be produced before a special NIA court in Malda for remand, the official said.

Further investigation in the case was underway.