NIA court sends FICN racketeer to 6 years in jail

NEW DELHI: A special NIA court in Kerala's Ernakulam on Monday sentenced a fake Indian currency note (FICN) racketeer to six years rigorous imprisonment besides imposing a fine in connection with the Thrissur FICN case.

An NIA spokesperson said here that the special court for NIA cases in Ernakulam convicted Ali Hossain aka Mohammed Ali Hossain, 30, a resident of Murshidabad district in West Bengal, under several sections of the Indian Penal Code in a 2018 FICN case and sentenced him to six years rigorous imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 85,000 on him for his role in procuring, possessing and circulating FICN in Kerala.

The official said that a case was originally registered at the Thrissur East police station on August 19, 2018 against Hossain following the seizure of two FICNs of Rs 2,000 denomination from his possession.

Based on Hossain's interrogation, 101 fake notes of Rs 2,000 face value each were recovered from his residence in Palakkad district.

NIA had taken over the case on October 27, 2018.

The official said that investigation had revealed that in 2018, Hossain had conspired with accused Alim Sheik, a Bangladeshi national who is absconding, to smuggle FICN into Kerala, with an intention to use the same as genuine Indian currency for unlawful gains.

The official said that on August 19, 2018, Hossain had knowingly tried to use the counterfeit currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination as genuine tender in shops at Thrissur where they were detected following which he was arrested.