KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to turn an accused in the Manjeri Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) case as approver.Following a request from the NIA, a magistrate court in Kochi recorded secret statement of Muhammad Inshan Ali, the seventh accused in the case, the other day. “As part of the probe into the case, the statement of Muhammad Inshan was recorded under Section-164 of the CPC. A decision on whether to make him an approver in the case will be taken later. His statement is vital for the investigation. The statement was recorded by the Judicial First Class Magistrate the other day,” NIA officials said.
The NIA took over the investigation of the case in November last year, following a request from the State Government. The case was first registered at the Manjeri police station in Malappuram in 2012.
The accused persons are Muhammad Masedul, 23; Mussamil Haq, alias Babu, 22; Farman Ali, 21; Marshida Alem, alias Pintu, 20; Ghish Muhammed, 24; Mujeeb Rahaman, 19; and Muhammad Inshan Ali, 23, all hailing from the Talagachi village at Harishchandrapur in West Bengal. Muhammad Inshan Ali was arrested by the NIA in June 2014 from Chennai. The case is that, on September 17, 2012, Muhammad Masedul, who worked as a construction worker at Manjeri, gave a fake currency note of `1,000 denomination at a mobile store for purchasing a recharge coupon. On suspicion, the owner of the mobile store informed the police, who found out that he was possessing five fake currency notes. Later, during the course of the investigation, five more persons were arrested. The police recovered 52 fake currency notes of `1000 denomination from the residence of the arrested persons.