Supplementary Chargesheet Filed In Bihar Fake Notes, Terror Conspiracy Case

The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday filed its third supplementary chargesheet in a terror conspiracy case that stemmed from the seizure of high-quality fake Indian currency notes from Bihar's East Champaran, an official said.

The chargesheet was filed before the NIA special court in Patna against Sudhir Kushwaha, the kingpin in the case with links to Nepal and Bangladesh, a spokesperson of the federal probe agency said.

Besides gang members from these two countries, accused from West Bengal and Jharkhand have been arrested in the case, the official said.

The official said the investigations revealed that Kushwaha was the key conspirator of the fake Indian currency racket. The case was registered in 2015 and Kushwaha had played a crucial role in the entire conspiracy, the spokesperson said.

Kushwaha had formed a gang to commit terrorist acts and had used the territory of India and Nepal for procurement, smuggling, and distribution of high-quality fake notes to damage the monetary stability and economic security of India, the official said, adding that he was arrested in January this year.

The official said the conspiracy came to light on September 19, 2015, following the seizure of fake notes of the face value of Rs 5.94 lakh from accused Afroz Ansari by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) near Ramgarhwa in East Champaran's Motihari.

The accused was carrying the fake currency consignment to Raxaul near the India-Nepal border for further delivery in Nepal, the spokesperson said.

The official said DRI Patna initially registered the case which was taken over by NIA and re-registered on December 23, 2015. Investigations led to the arrest of seven persons, who were chargesheeted over a four-year period from July 2016 to March 2019, the spokesperson said.

Four of the accused, Afroz Ansari, Sunny Kumar alias "Sunny Shaw" alias "Sujit Kumar" alias "Kabir Khan", Ashraful Alam alias "Ishraful Alam" and Alomgir Seikh alias "Raju" have since been convicted and sentenced to life, along with a fine of Rs 30,000, under the IPC and the UAPA, the official said.

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