A man who has been in prison for the last two years in connection with a fake currency racket pleaded guilty before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday and has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

A native of Malda in West Bengal, Abdul Kadir, has been accused of delivering the consignment to another gang member through his brother. He was arrested by the NIA in July 2019. The special court before which he was produced noted that he did not have an advocate. He expressed his intention to plead guilty to the charges, which included those of criminal conspiracy, possession and trafficking of counterfeit currency under the Indian Penal Code. The court provided him with a lawyer before he submitted a formal application pleading guilty.

Special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar then sentenced him to seven years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000. Since he is in custody since July 2019, the court said he would be eligible for deduction in sentence for the period spent in prison.

The NIA had taken over the case first registered by the Bhiwandi Taluka police station. Kadir was among the three persons who were subsequently arrested.

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