When West Bengal police arrested Mohammad Shawkat Ali with fake Indian currencies and produced him before the court, they kept mum on his nationality.

He was tried by Jangipur court for possessing counterfeit notes and sentenced to life in prison. His case took years to make it to Kolkata High Court where the chief justice-led bench reduced the sentence to 10 years on Friday, reports Anandabazar Patrika.

But nearly 13 years have already gone by. The High Court ordered the authorities concerned to send Shawkat back to Bangladesh quickly.

His lawyer Ornob Chattopadhyay said the Bangladeshi man was arrested with counterfeit currencies on December 30, 2006 from in front of a hotel in Murshidabad’s Dhulian Bazar.

Shamsherganj police claimed that he was carrying 105 Rs 500 notes.

Ornob said his client, a resident of Sapahar area under the Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district, had come to West Bengal to attend the wedding ceremony of a relative. “He was unaware that the currencies were counterfeit,” the lawyer said.

The subordinate court of Jangipur sentenced him to life imprisonment on Sept 17, 2008. Shawkat’s relatives moved the High Court where his punishment was revised but he had already spent nearly 13 years in jail.