New Delhi, Jul 2 (IANS): An NIA Special Court in Bilaspur has convicted and sentenced seven accused persons in connection with the seizure of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district in 2019.

The accused persons -- Devendra Chandra, Manoj Sahu, Rohit Bharadwaj, Dilip Mahilange, Doman Miri, Nohar Sinha and Hemlal Sahu are charged under 489A, 489B, 489C, 489D, 255, 256, 259, (related to counterfeiting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years with a fine of Rs 5,000 in each offence.

The case related to the seizure of FICN amounting to Rs 7,39,300 was initially registered by Hasoud police station in Janjgir-Champa district on June 20, 2019, and later re-registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 9, 2019, an official statement said on Friday.

Apart from fake currency, other material objects and stamp papers were also seized from the accused persons.

After investigation, NIA had filed a charge-sheet against the accused persons on September 8, 2020.