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Jaipur, Nov 26 (IANS) A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sentenced a Pakistani national to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) in the 2019 fake currency case in Rajasthan. Accused Ran Singh has also been imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 in the case, which pertains to the seizure of high quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a face value of Rs 94,000.
Ran Singh was arrested in May 2019 at the Land Customs Station, Munnabao, Rajasthan, while his co-conspirator, another Pakistani national identified as Kunpaji, is absconding.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against both the men in November 2019. The special court in Jaipur convicted Ran Singh under sections 489B and 489C of the IPC as well as section 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for each offence. Singh was detained after he was found with 47 fake notes worth Rs 2,000 at Munnabao railway station in Barmer district.
Investigators said Singh had entered India from Pakistan through the Thar Express and was allegedly lured to smuggle fake currency by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI. During checking at the railway station, security personnel discovered the currency notes hidden in his luggage and took him into custody.
“The man is from Pakistan and had traveled in the Thar Express. We found 47 fake notes after which he was detained and interrogated,” an officer said. According to officials, he is a resident of Mithi in Sindh province of Pakistan. NIA continues to search for fugitive Kunpaji.
The case is part of a broader pattern observed by Indian security agencies, which have identified frequent efforts by Pakistan-based operatives to push FICN into India to destabilize the economy and finance illegal activities.
The National Investigation Agency – India’s premier counter-terrorism investigation agency – has played a central role in dismantling the FICN network over the past decade.
Established in 2009 after the Mumbai terror attacks, the NIA is mandated to investigate crimes that have national or cross-border implications, including terrorism financing, trafficking, organized crime with security implications and cases involving foreign-hosted networks.
The agency regularly coordinates with state police forces, customs officials and international partners.
In recent years, several high quality FICN smuggling modules sent through Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan border have been neutralized following NIA-led investigations.
–IANS
Arch/PGH