Fake currency: NIA nabs Kannu after 2-year hunt

HYDERABAD: National Investigation Agency (NIA), Hyderabad, has finally arrested Mohammed Hakim alias Kannu, 45, who had been absconding for the last two years. The accused was involved in Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) racket registered by the NIA, Hyderabad, in 2016.

The NIA had arrested two persons Saddam Hussain and Amirul Haque in the case in 2016. One more accused in the case Rustum alias Hasmath is still absconding. 

According to the NIA officials, Saddam Hussain was caught with FICN with a face value of Rs 5 lakh in Guwahati – Bengaluru Superfast Express in September 2015. Hussain had told the NIA officials that he got the currency from Hakim in Malda. Following the information, the NIA sleuths were trying to find Hakim since then. On Monday, they managed to catch him at Malda in West Bengal district. 

The high quality FICN are reportedly printed in Pakistan and the same were sent to Bangladesh via courier. Hakim managed to smuggle it to India and handed it over to Saddam Hussain and Amirul Haque for circulation across India. 

The chargesheet filed by the NIA in connection with the case states that Saddam Hussain was instructed by Amirul Haque to go to Malda and collect the fake money. On his instructions, Amirul Haque had gone to Malda and collected the FICN -denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from Mohammed Hakim. 

The FICN was to be handed over to Rustum. However, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths had caught Saddam Hussain at Vizag and later transferred the case to the NIA.