Patna: Court awards 20-year RI to FICN trafficker

PATNA: A special NIA court in Patna on Friday sentenced a Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) trafficker, Mohd Ali Akhtar Ansari, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking FICN with a face value of Rs 25 lakh via India-Nepal border in Raxaul in September 2015. A Pakistani national, who presently stays in the UAE, had couriered the parcel from UAE.
As per a statement issued by the NIA, the sentence was pronounced by its special court for Ansar's involvement in proliferation of FICN in India. He was convicted in the case on July 18 this year.
The case involved seizure of a parcel containing "high quality" FICN having a face value of Rs 25 lakh. Ansari had come to Raxaul to take delivery of the FICN consignment on September 30, 2015 and was subsequently arrested.
As per NIA statement, investigations revealed that the seized FICN had been smuggled from a foreign country into India and the consignment was to be delivered to one Abi Mohammad alias Nabi Mohammad of Nepal.
It also came to light during investigation that one Syed Muhammad Shafi, a Pakisatn national, who is presently residing in the UAE, had couriered the parcel from UAE through an international courier service.
After thorough investigation by the NIA, a charge-sheet was filed in September 2016 against Ansari. In the prison sentence pronounced by the NIA special court in Patna, 20 years of rigorous imprisonment has been awarded to Ansari along with a fine of Rs 50,000 under Section 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Raxaul has seemingly been a "soft target" of smugglers involved in transportation of FICN from foreign countries due to the porous India-Nepal border. The East Champaran police had busted a gang of four FICN traffickers on July 16 in Chhatauni locality of Motihari town and recovered FICN with a face value of Rs 8 lakh from their possession. Earlier, one Sudhir Kushawaha was arrested near Motipur in a joint action by East Champaran and Muzaffarpur police in the first week of this month.