Terror suspect from Bhatkal gets 5-year rigorous imprisonment in counterfeit notes case

Pune, November 23: Additional sessions judge SD Darne on Tuesday sentenced Bangalore serial blast suspect, Hussain Shabbir Meheruddin Gangavali (32), of Bhatkal village in Karnataka, to five years rigorous imprisonment for the seizure of 250 counterfeit currency notes of Rs 100 denomination from him in 2008.

Gangavali was sentenced under section 489 (c) (possessing counterfeit notes) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and was fined Rs 5,000. He will have to serve an additional six months in jail as he did not deposit the fine.

Additional public prosecutor Subhash Kalbhor, on the point of sentence, argued that maximum punishment be given to Gangavali, saying that he was involved in a serious crime and had abused his position as a Maulana (religious leader). The prosecution had relied on the evidence of seven witnesses to prove the charges against Gangavali.

Defence lawyers Vidhyadhar Koshe and Vinod Shete had pleaded that a lenient view be taken as the accused was young and had been lodged in the high security 'anda' cell at the Yerawada jail since his arrest on December 30, 2008.

Koshe contended that his client was in the custody of the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) a day before he was shown as officially having been arrested. They said the charges that he was nabbed and fake notes were seized from him were baseless.

Koshe examined six defence witnesses, including mediapersons, to prove that Gangavali had been falsely implicated in the case.

Koshe told TOI that he would challenge the conviction in the Bombay High Court after receiving a certified copy of the judgment.

According to ATS officials, Gangvali is involved in two more cases -- possessing jehadi (religious radicalism) literature in Pune and in the serial bomb blasts case in Bangalore.

This is the first conviction in a case handled by the Pune ATS, which was set up here in 2007.

The ATS had picked up Gangavali from the Janwadi mosque, located off Senapati Bapat road, in connection with the July 2008 serial bomb blasts in Bangalore in December 2008. The case against him for fake currency notes was filed under sections 489 (a), (b) and (c) of the IPC.

According to a complaint filed by ATS assistant sub-inspector Rajendra Thorve, he had received a tip-off that Gangavali would arrive at Yevat and also visit his sister's residence at Janwadi. The complaint says that Thorve also got information that Gangavali was planning to hand over the fake currency notes to a person at Arun Kadam chowk near the Janwadi mosque.

An ATS team picked up Gangavali from the mosque while he was sleeping at around 3 am on Tuesday and recovered 250 fake notes of Rs 100 denomination from his bag, the complaint says. An examination of the notes revealed that there was a difference in the watermark and colour, and the paper quality of the notes was found to be poor, the complaint states.