NIA arrests man in fake currency smuggling syndicate with linkages in Pakistan, Nepal

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one more accused in the 2024 Champaran fake currency seizure case in Bihar, an official statement issued on Thursday said.

Md Fasi Uddin is directly involved in the case, involving a large syndicate with linkages in Pakistan and Nepal, it said.

Along with the four other accused -- Md Nazar Saddam, Md Waris, Md Zakir Hushain and Muzaffar Ahmad Wani alias Sarfaraz, who all were chargesheeted on Wednesday -- Fasi Uddin of Hyderabad was engaged in smuggling high-quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN) into India with the intent to damage the country's financial stability, said the statement issued by the NIA.

According to NIA investigations, Fasi Uddin had paid cryptocurrency to Pakistan-based Salman Muhammed in exchange for FICN.

He had also accompanied the accused, Saddam, to Raxaul in Bihar as well as Nepal on several occasions in connection with the smuggling of fake notes, the probe agency said.

The NIA has further found that Fasi Uddin had visited Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir to meet co-accused Sarfaraz, who was providing funds for the procurement of FICN.

The probe agency has been investigating the case, relating to the seizure of FICN of face value Rs 1,95,000, since December 2024.

In another statement, the NIA said it has arrested an accused in the Bhairamgarh CPI (Maoist) arms supply case.

Aman Kesarwani was among the conspirators involved in the supply of arms and ammunition to the cadres of the CPI (Maoist) terrorist organisation, it said.

The case was originally registered by the local police following the arrest of five accused persons in Bhairamgarh tehsil of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.

The state police chargesheeted five accused persons in July 2023, followed by a supplementary charge sheet by the NIA against three accused persons in April this year.

The accused persons were involved in arranging and procuring revolvers and ammunition from Uttar Pradesh for delivery to members of CPI (Maoist) in the vicinity of Bhairamgarh tehsil, the NIA said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)