Crime:  The Gelephu dungkhag court sentenced three non-Bhutanese to one and a half year non-compoundable prison term each last week for trying to exchange counterfeit Indian currency in July this year.

The incident happened near the border gate in Gelephu when the three men tried to exchange INR 11,000 with Ngultrum. They were caught when they tried to exchange the currency from one of the offices located near the border gate. An official informed police when he found that the currency were fake.

The verdict states that the three were charged in line with section 207 and 308 of the Penal Code of Bhutan. The convicts, Prem Bahadur Darjee, 66, Gazad Bahadur Pradhan, 29, and Bikash Sunar, 54, were from Dathgari. The verdict states that they tried to exchange the INR from Bhutan as they were promised to give a commission of Nu 200 per INR 500 despite knowing that they were carrying counterfeit currency.

The verdict states that the seized counterfeit currency has been handed over to the Royal Monetary Authority.

Yeshey Dema, Tsirang