Patna: An NIA team arrested Noor Mohammed, a Nepal national from Bara district, who had been absconding since 2014 in connection with a major fake Indian currency notes (FICN) racket. The arrest was made on Sunday in the Shahpur Patori area of Samastipur district.He was wanted under a non-bailable warrant in a case registered by the NIA in June 2014. “It stemmed from the seizure of 4,988 counterfeit Rs 1,000 notes — with a total face value of Rs 49.88 lakh — at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in April 2014. These superior-quality fakes were smuggled into India from Dubai on April 17 and 18 that year,” officials said.Investigations revealed that Noor Mohammed was part of a criminal network that conspired with others, including co-accused Ekramul Ansari and a Dubai-based Pakistani national, Syed Muhammad Shafi alias Shafi Chacha. The group allegedly managed procurement, movement, distribution and circulation of FICN across India.The agency found that he played a crucial role in arranging meetings among conspirators to facilitate transport and delivery of the consignment. He also closely tracked the movement of the intercepted batch, according to NIA findings. A chargesheet was filed against him in November 2017 before the special court at Patiala House Courts in New Delhi.Officials described the operation as a calculated attempt to undermine India’s financial system through the circulation of high-grade counterfeit currency. The investigation is ongoing to determine the full extent of the syndicate. “This arrest marks a key breakthrough in cracking long-standing cross-border FICN networks, often linked to foreign elements aiming to destabilise the economy. Noor Mohammed is now in custody, with further interrogations expected to yield more leads,” officials said.
