Commencing the trial in the Manjeri counterfeit notes case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special Court here on Tuesday examined three witnesses in connection with the case.
Sources said those examined were the owner of the mobile phone shop where the accused had attempted to exchange the fake notes and the owners of the house where they had stayed in Malappuram. The court is slated to examine two more witnesses on Wednesday.
The court had already framed charges against the accused, identified as Masidur Rahaman alias Muhammed Masuideen; Mojammel Hoque alias Bablu; Farman Ali; Masud Alam; Shish Muhammed — all natives of Malda in West Bengal, and Mojibur Rahaman, alias Mujeeb.
It was on September 17, 2012 that the Manjeri police arrested Masidur Rahaman while attempting to exchange a fake note of ₹1,000 at mobile phone shop. During a follow-up investigation, the police recovered 45 fake Indian currency notes of similar denomination from his residence and arrested the remaining members of the racket.
The case was later handed over to the NIA, which found that the counterfeits had been printed in Pakistan and were pumped into India through Malda, a district in West Bengal that shares its border with Bangladesh.
