With a conviction rate of almost 80% in Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) cases, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is one of the leading agencies in the country to have achieved this rate, compared to their counterparts, police sources said.
And the agency attributes this success to the quality of investigation. "Since 2006, 24 cases of FICN have been registered by the ATS in which trial has completed. We have got convictions in 19 of these 24 cases. This makes us one of the leading agencies in the country to have achieved such a high conviction rate, compared to other state agencies and state police departments who deal in FICN cases," said an ATS officer.
When asked about the reasons that have helped them achieve this rate, the officer said, "First and foremost is the quality of investigation that we do in such cases. Also, the judiciary shows interest and trials gets completed on time, witnesses are available and the accused do not jump bails."
In important case, the ATS also sends few of the seized fake notes to Currency Notes Press office at Jail Road in Nashik for their expert view. "A report from them has revealed that some of the security features of the notes such as water mark, latent image, see through registration were imitated and that the notes were of high quality," the officer added.
This April, the ATS sleuths had arrested Mohammad Suber Moosa Malik Sheikh, Bakhtiyar Alam Namzul Hoda alias Raj and Mohammaad Nazir Mohammad Masiuj Alam from Borivli (W) and seized bogus notes with the face value of Rs1.36 lakh. The ATS had also invoked Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act in the case.
Sources say in majority of the cases it has come to light that the FICN were smuggled into the city from West Bengal and Jharkhand districts.
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