Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) Three accused have been convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here for involvement in smuggling of high-quality counterfeit notes from Malaysia into India, an official statement issued on Thursday said.

Danish Haji Mohammed Petiwala and Sarasvati Dattaram alias Muskan have been sentenced to five years, six months and two days of RI and a fine of Rs 6,000 each, it said.

J Kaleel Rahman will undergo RI of five years, five months and 18 days along with a fine of Rs 5,000, according to the orders of the court, which held all three guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, said the NIA statement.

The 2020 case emanated from information received by the Customs Department, Mumbai, regarding the import of a parcel from Malaysia containing fake Indian currency notes (FICNs) of a total face value of Rs 68,000 (Rs 2,000 × 34 notes), it said.

The parcel was addressed to one Sangita Kapoor at her Goregaon (West), Mumbai, address, the NIA said.

Investigations revealed the involvement of Danish Haji, a resident of Mahim, Mumbai, and his girlfriend Sarasvati, along with a Malaysian resident, Amir Mirza alias Rafiq Shaikh, a wanted absconder against whom a non-bailable warrant was also issued in September 2020.

The Customs officials also recovered one FICN from Hotel Adya International, Andheri East, where Danish and Sarasvati had stayed before their arrest, the NIA said.

After taking over the case, which exposed the use of banking channels and postal services to transfer FICNs in exchange for genuine currency, the NIA found that Danish and Sarasvati had conspired with Amir and Kalil to smuggle high-quality counterfeit currency from Malaysia to India, with the intent of destabilising India's financial system, it added. PTI AKV AKV KSS KSS

Counterfeit currency smuggling: prosecution for cross border conspiracy and use of postal and banking channels leads to convictions. Criminal liability is established for conspiring to smuggle high quality counterfeit Indian currency from Malaysia into India, prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Investigations revealed a parcel containing counterfeit notes, use of postal and banking channels to exchange counterfeit for genuine currency, involvement of local residents with a Malaysian collaborator who became an absconder, and evidentiary links from recovered items and accommodation stays.