JKCA scam: ED questions Farooq Abdullah; 'political vendetta,' says Omar

Abdullah was questioned by ED in connection with alleged misappropriation of over Rs 43 crore when he was the president of the JKCA

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Farooq Abdullah - regional National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir - in an alleged multi-million J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) scam.

Sources said octogenarian Abdullah was questioned at ED’s Rajbagh office in Srinagar for nearly seven hours. He was questioned in connection with alleged misappropriation of Rs over 43 crore when he was the president of the JKCA.

Earlier the agency had questioned Abdullah, who represents Srinagar in the Lok Sabha, in the case in 2019.

Talking to reporters after coming out of the ED office Abdullah said, “I am quite clear and will always face them.”

“My fate will be decided by the court when they put the case into the court. I couldn’t have lunch today. There was no time,” he added.

Abdullah’s son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the questioning was political vendetta and connected it to the alliance forged by six political parties from the region over the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Another former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the summon depicts nervousness about the mainstream politicians. “ED’s sudden summon to Farooq sahab displays the extent of GOIs nervousness about mainstream parties in J&K fighting as one unit. Also reeks of political vendetta & wont in the least blunt our collective resolve to fight for our rights,” she tweeted.

Asked whether he was summoned because of the formation of peoples’ alliance for the Gupkar declaration, senior Abdullah said that “don’t bring the Gupkar declaration into this.”

Abdullah was named in the scam in 2012 in which bogus money was allegedly transferred into bogus accounts created by the JKCA officials. The JKCA gets subsidies from the BCCI annually.

The ED case is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) FIR as part of which the CBI booked former office-bearers of JKCA, including general secretary Saleem Khan and Treasurer Ahsan Mirza.

According to the CBI investigation, the accounts were opened in the name of the JKCA in J&K Bank and the BCCI funds were diverted to these bogus accounts and subsequently siphoned off. The BCCI had given Rs 113 crore to the JKCA from 2002 to 2011 as grant for the promotion of cricket in the region. Of this, Rs.43.69 crore was allegedly siphoned off and misappropriated by the accused.