NIA court convicts two in fake currency case in Gujarat

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) A special NIA court in Gujarat has convicted two persons in a fake currency conspiracy case and sentenced them to 10 years and seven years of rigorous imprisonment.

Sanjay Kumar Mohanbhai Devaliya has been awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000. The other person, Tahir alias Kaliya, has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment along with a Rs 10,000 fine under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, an NIA spokesperson said.

The official said the NIA special court in Ahmedabad passed the judgment in the case which was originally registered in 2018 by Gujarat ATS on specific inputs shared by the agency.

The NIA had later taken over the investigation.

Thorough professional and scientific investigations by the NIA had led to the arrest of the accused and busting of the racket under which counterfeit notes were sought to be circulated in the state after being procured from West Bengal, the spokesperson said.

“Devaliya had travelled by air to Kolkata and then to New Farakka Junction by train. There, on October 17, 2018, he met Tahir and purchased fake currency against genuine Indian currency of Rs 20,000. He was later arrested in Gujarat and fake currency notes were seized from him,” the NIA said.

During investigations, the NIA recorded statements of witnesses, took voice samples of the accused, scrutinised mobile records and collected other documentary evidence to unearth the conspiracy and gather prosecutable evidence, the spokesperson said.

A charge sheet was filed against the accused and vigorous perusal of the trial over three years finally resulted in the conviction of two accused, he said.