The NIA Special Court in Bengaluru convicted a woman as the sixth accused in a fake currency case in Bengaluru. The fake currency racket involves the smuggling of high-quality fake Indian currency notes into India from Bangladesh via Karnataka. The accused was identified as Vanitha (alias) Thangam. Madanayakanahalli police arrested Vanitha and her six associates in mid-2018 after seizing fake currency notes in the Rs 2000 denomination.
In a release, NIA said, “Vanitha @ Thangam has been sentenced to six years of imprisonment under section 489B of IPC, five years imprisonment under section 489C of IPC, and two years jail under section 120B of IPC, besides a total fine of Rs. 20,000. The sentences will run concurrently.”
NIA said, “Karnataka police had seized high quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) of Face Value RS. 2,50,000 from Vanitha in the case, in which a joint operation by the state police and NIA had originally led to the seizure of fake notes of face value of Rs. 4,34,000 from the possession of three accused persons.“
Based on a complaint by an NIA officer, Karnataka police registered an FIR under various sections of IPC. NIA had subsequently re-registered the case and mounted a thorough investigation and surveillance, which led to the exposure of the FICN racket headed by the prime accused, Abdul Khadir, it said.
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Further investigations by NIA had indicated a potential transaction of fake notes by three persons in Bengaluru.
“Between 2016 and 2022, the NIA filed Chargesheets against a total of eight persons, of whom three accused, identified as Mohammed Sajjad Ali @ Chachu, M G Raju @ Master and Abdul Kadir, were convicted by the special court,” it said.