13 sentenced in fake currency racket

MUMBAI: Thirteen people, including the sister-in-law of Dubai-based gangster Aftab Batki, involved in a fake currency racket were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Friday. The court also slapped a fine of Rs five lakh on each of the accused.
Besides this, the accused have also been convicted to five years rigorous imprisonment under the Indian Penal Code and have been charged an additional fine of Rs 5,000, said senior police inspector Pradeep Sharma.The accused will, however, serve only five years under the MCOCA, Sharma said.
The accused were caught in March 2001 and were found in possession of fake currency worth Rs 1 crore. “Initially, the police arrested Ramesh Kisani and three others and on the basis of information provided by them, others were arrested,� police sub-inspector Sachin Waze said. The police had recovered fake currency worth Rs 1.04 crore from the gang.
The conviction of the accused under MCOCA has proved that this is an international nexus, deputy commissioner of police Pradeep Sawant said. The prosecution’s case was that Rs 21.5 lakh of fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs 500 were recovered from Kisani’s premises. He along with other convicts, Sohail Shaikh, Ejaz Siddique, Rafiq Gulam Ali, Nadeem Pishori, Bharti Verma alias Ayesha, Anis Amin Shaikh, Yaseen Shaikh, Hanif Matiyat, John Chandiwala, Faizal Ishqi, Yunus Makwana and Iliya Bikaliya, allegedly worked for gangsters Anees Ibrahim and Aftab Batki. Both Ibrahim and Batki are wanted in the case.
All the accused pleaded not guilty and Kisani, a businessman, took upon himself the job of cross-examining the investigating police officers. He had also obtained an order from the Bombay high court for expediting the charge of his alleged involvement in the underworld-Bollywood nexus.
Public prosecutor Vidya Kasle lauded the performance of the police specially that of Waze and assistant inspector Ashok Borkar.