Mehbooba Mufti's mother summoned by Enforcement Directorate in PMLA case

Gulshan Ara is the wife of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the former Union Home Minister

Hours after regional PDP declined to meet the visiting Delimitation Commission in Srinagar, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Gulshan Ara, mother of the former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for questioning in a money laundering case.

Gulshan Ara, the wife of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the former Union Home Minister, has been asked to appear before the central probe agency at its office in Srinagar on July 14.

Posting the summons on her official Twitter handle, Mehbooba said, “On the day PDP chose not to meet Delimitation Commission, ED sent a summon to my mother to appear in person for unknown charges. In its attempts to intimidate political opponents, GOI doesn’t even spare senior citizens. Agencies like NIA & ED are now its tools to settle scores (sic).”

Earlier, the ED had questioned Mehbooba for several hours at its Srinagar office on March 25. She had approached the Delhi High Court seeking relief after the first summon. But the court did not stay the summons. Later on April 9, the ED had summoned Gulshan Ara for questioning.

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The case filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the ED, after raids on an associate of Mehbooba, in which some purported payments made from then chief minister’s discretionary fund were made in alleged contravention of rules.

These funds are alleged to have been diverted during the tenure of Mehbooba as the CM.

After her five-hour-long questioning on March 25, Mehbooba had told reporters that central agencies like the NIA, CBI and the ED were being “misused” to silence the opposition.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of J&K police had also rejected the passport applications of Gulshan Ara and Mehbooba following ‘adverse police reports’ against the mother and the daughter.