Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], (ANI): A special NIA court in Bengaluru has sentenced three persons in connection with a case pertaining to the seizure of fake Indian currency notes with the face value of Rs 6.84 lakhs from the city in March 2018.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the court on Wednesday sentenced Mohammed Sajjad Ali, MG Raju and Abdul Kadir to six years, five years and two years in prison respectively. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. The NIA had, on September 6, 2018, registered a case in the matter based on an FIR filed at Madanayakanahally police station here under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including charges of criminal conspiracy, and using forged or counterfeit currency notes.

The case pertains to the recovery of fake notes with the face value of Rs 6.84 lakhs in the denomination of Rs 2,000 notes from the possession of four persons including Mohammed Sajjad Ali, MG Raju, Gangadhar Ramappa Kolkar and Vanitha.

"During the investigation, the involvement of four more persons namely Vijay from Karnataka and, Sabiruddin, Abdul Kadir and Jahiruddin all from Malda, West Bengal was revealed. Vijay, Sabiruddin and Abdul Kadir were arrested while accused Jahiruddin is still absconding," the NIA said in a statement released on Thursday.

It said that after completing the investigation, the NIA filed a charge sheet against four arrested accused including Mohammed Sajjad Ali, MG Raju, Gangadhar Ramappa Kolkar and Vanitha on November 3, 2018, and subsequently, supplementary charge sheets were filed against Abdul Kadir on March 8, 2019, Sabiruddin on September 5, 2019, and Vijay on June 30, 2020.

The special court had on Tuesday framed charges against all the seven charge-sheeted accused of the offences of criminal conspiracy and using forced currency notes.

The further investigation against the absconding accused Jahiruddin is underway.