BENGALURU: A chargesheet filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) before a special court in a case involving the printing and circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) in various states of the country, disclosed that Aditya Singh alias Vivek Thakur (22) from Uttar Pradesh, accused No.1, obtained a SIM card in the name of Asha, who died in 2021.
The NIA stated that Singh created a fake Telegram account with the name fake_currency_sellter2023 with the user ID name ‘Priya Mehta’. Through the Telegram account, he made attempts to circulate FICNs to several persons by contacting them through WhatsApp, with a false promise of higher returns for the amount deposited in his Punjab National Bank account. Once the amount was deposited in the account, he refused to return the money to the depositors as promised, and offered to provide FICNs twice or thrice the amount deposited by them.
The Investigating Officer (IO) recorded the statements of witnesses who deposited money into his account.
The investigating agency intercepted phone calls between the accused persons. During the conversation, Singh discussed with Suluvai Mahendra alias Mahendra, accused No.2, about sending FICNs through courier, the NIA narrated in the chargesheet.
The Central government received credible information that the accused persons, part of a larger conspiracy, are involved in importing a large quantity of FICNs from border countries and also printing them using imported paper and high-quality printers, and circulating those notes across India.Considering the gravity of the offences, the Government of India on November 23, 2023, directed NIA to take up an investigation. Accordingly, NIA conducted the investigation.
Meanwhile, Judge Gangadhara CM, Special Court judge, rejected the bail petition filed by Singh, saying the evidence collected by IO prima facie indicates that Singh was involved in the preparation, possession and circulation of FICNs.
During a search of Singh’s house, NIA seized a laptop, printer, white colour currency printing papers with security thread, and currency notes of Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 100 denominations and Rs 70,920. The suspect notes were sent to Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Limited in Mysuru which confirmed they were not genuine.