Special NIA court convicts sixth accused in Bengaluru fake currency case
New Delhi (PTI): A special NIA court has convicted a woman in the Bengaluru fake currency case involving smuggling of huge quantities of high-quality counterfeit banknotes from Bangladesh into India via Karnataka.
Vanitha alias 'Thangam' is the sixth accused to be convicted in the case.
She was sentenced to six years of imprisonment under Section 489B (using as genuine counterfeit currency notes) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), five years of imprisonment under Section 489C (possession of counterfeit currency notes) of the IPC, and two years of imprisonment under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. All the sentences will run concurrently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Saturday.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Vanitha.
In a joint operation with the NIA in 2018, the Karnataka Police had seized fake currency with a face value of Rs 2.50 lakh from Vanitha following the arrest of three other accused with counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 4.34 lakh.
The case was initially registered by the Karnataka Police under various sections of the IPC based on the complaint lodged by an NIA officer in 2018, the agency said.
Subsequently, the NIA re-registered the case and mounted a thorough investigation and surveillance that led to the exposure of the fake Indian currency notes (FICN) racket headed by prime accused Abdul Khadir, it said.
Further investigations by the NIA indicated a potential transaction of fake notes by three people in Bengaluru, according to the agency.
Between 2018 and 2022, the NIA filed charge sheets against eight people. Three of these -- Mohammed Sajjad Ali alias 'Chachu', M G Raju alias 'Master' and Abdul Kadir -- were convicted by the special court to six years of imprisonment.
Two other accused, Gangadhar Kholkar and Sabiruddin, were also subsequently convicted and sentenced by the special court to six years of imprisonment, the NIA said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
