NIA files first chargesheet in state

The chargesheet,an over 1,000-page document,comprises several reports related to various counterfeit currency cases lodged across the country. It has named one Shaukat as the kingpin of the racket and has accused a “neighbouring hostile country” of aiding counterfeiting in India. The chargesheet was filed before a Mazgaon metropolitan court on November 6,and the case was later committed to a sessions court for trial.

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian said,“We have charged the accused under Section 17 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA),which deals with terrorism,and investigation is still on as we expect more things to come out.”

The NIA took over the case on June 16,2009,from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad,which had arrested the six accused near Mazgaon in possession of around Rs 45,000 in fake Indian currency notes of Rs-1000 denomination. The chargesheet states that these accused are part of a larger racket trying to destabilise the Indian economy by circulating fake currency notes with an intention of aiding and abetting terrorist activities.

The ATS had arrested the accused on May 14,acting on specific information that the accused were planning to exchange money near Star Cinema at Mazgaon. The NIA had carried out the rest of the investigations.

Accordingly,it found similar counterfeit cases in different places,including Goa,Thane,New Delhi,Kochi,Badhwani (Madhya Pradesh) and Chitradurga (Karnataka). The NIA wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs to get two samples each of the legal tenders of countries like Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,Nepal,Bhutan and Myanmar,to match the quality of paper used by those countries and those used for the counterfeit currency notes.

Salian said “Thus we found out that these notes were coming from a neighbouring hostile country through different border routes.”

The NIA has also moved the Union Government for setting up a special court to try cases registered by the agency. Salian also made an oral request to that effect before additional sessions judge OS Jaiswal on December 5,the first hearing of the case. She then sought an adjournment,informing the court that the notification was expected soon.