MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 61-year-old Bandra resident arrested for a Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) circulation case linked to a Pakistan-based aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, citing his prolonged pre-trial incarceration.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Shyam C Chandak granted bail to Nasir Usmangani Chaudhary noting that he has spent over four years in custody and that the trial is unlikely to conclude soon. He was directed to furnish a personal bond of ₹1 lakh with one or more solvent sureties of the same amount.
Chaudhary was arrested by Thane police on November 26, 2021, after 149 counterfeit ₹2,000 notes were allegedly seized from co-accused Riyaz Abdul Shikilkar. During interrogation, Shikilkar named Chaudhary as being involved in circulating the fake notes.
The case was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency in February 2023. The agency claimed the duo acted on instructions received via WhatsApp from a handler referred to as “Uncle,” who was later identified as Pakistan-based Javed Patel alias Javed Chikna, a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim and a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Investigators said the WhatsApp number used for communication was traced to Malaysia and suspected to be operated by a Pakistani national.
The seized notes were sent to the currency printing press in Nashik, which confirmed them to be high-quality FICNs. A chargesheet was filed in April 2022, followed by a supplementary chargesheet against a third accused, Muhammad Fayaaz Shikilkar.
As part of the bail conditions, the court directed Chaudhary to surrender his passport to the NIA and barred him from leaving the court’s jurisdiction without prior permission.