NIA Court Sentences 4 Men To Jail In ₹4.78 Lakh Maharashtra Fake Currency Case With Cross-Border Bangladesh Links
Mumbai: A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mumbai has sentenced four men to rigorous imprisonment in connection with a 2018 fake Indian currency notes (FICN) case), confirming cross-border links to a counterfeit currency racket operating from Bangladesh.
The NIA special court convicted two accused on Monday and two others on Tuesday in the case, which pertains to the seizure of 203 high-quality counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 4.78 lakh from a paan shop near Sai Dhaba in Wadape, Bhiwandi (Thane district) in October 2018.
The initial arrests were made in this case by the local police in October 2018, when five individuals Rehan Abbas Shaikh, Shafahad Mukhtar Ansari, Anees Iklak Shaikh, Kishor Namdeo Fular, and Rohit Nagendra Singh were taken into custody. The NIA took over the probe in December 2018 and subsequently arrested four more individuals: Samir Mandal, Sabir Ali, Abdul Kadir, and Mohammad Shadab Khan.
On Monday, the court sentenced Samir Mandal and Mohammad Shadab Khan to seven years and five years of rigorous imprisonment respectively under Sections 489B, 489C, and 120B of the IPC. Each has been fined Rs 10,000 under each section, with additional jail time in case of default.
On Tuesday, the special NIA court sentenced Anees Iklakh Shaikh and Kishor Namdeo Fular to five years and nine months of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 10,000 each under similar charges.
A notable aspect of the case is that all four convicts were arrested in 2018–19 and have remained in judicial custody since then. As per Section 428 of the Indian Penal Code, the time spent in custody during the trial is adjusted against the final sentence. Based on this provision, Samir Mandal has already served nearly six years of his seven-year sentence, leaving only a minimal portion of his term remaining. Mohammad Shadab Khan has completed his five-year sentence and is now eligible for release. Similarly, Anees Iklakh Shaikh and Kishor Namdeo Fular, who were sentenced to five years and nine months, have also nearly completed their terms if they have been in continuous custody since 2018.
Earlier in the same case, Rehan, Shafahad, Rohit, and Abdul Kadir had pleaded guilty and were convicted prior to the latest sentencing. The NIA had filed chargesheets against nine accused between January 2019 and April 2021.
Bangladeshi national Karim Shaikh, identified as a key accused, is absconding. The investigation into his role in the FICN racket—spread across Bangladesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and other parts of India is ongoing.
According to the NIA’s findings, the accused were part of a well-organised network that circulated fake currency by making small purchases at highway-side shops and tendering counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes to obtain genuine currency as change.
The conspiracy was allegedly masterminded by Anees Shaikh of Mumbai and Samir Mandal of West Bengal. Another accused, Kadir Shaikh, coordinated with and procured FICN from Bangladeshi national Karim Shaikh across the border. Kadir would deliver the counterfeit notes to Samir Mandal through his brother, Sabir Ali. Mandal also maintained contact with Anees Shaikh, who had tasked Mohammad Shadab Khan with collecting the FICN consignment from Kolkata.
Further investigation revealed that Anees engaged his neighbours Rehan Shaikh and Kishor Fular to distribute the counterfeit currency, with the assistance of Shafahad Ansari and Rohit Singh. Abdul Kadir also maintained telephonic contact with the absconding accused, Karim Shaikh, and other Bangladeshi operatives during the period under investigation.
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