ED files complaint against Farooq Abdullah in JKCA scam case

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, July 26

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a complaint against Member of Parliament and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah for alleged money laundering in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).

“ED has filed a supplementary PC under Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act 2002 before the special PMLA Court Srinagar against Abdullah and others,” an official said.

The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar, issued the summons against Abdullah for August 27 on a complaint filed by the ED against him and others in the JKCA money laundering case, he said.

On May 31, the ED questioned Dr Abdullah, 84, for over three hours in Srinagar.

The development came as elections for J&K Legislative Assembly are likely to take place in April next year. Abdullah is one of the main binding forces of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomeration of two major political parties – NC and PDP – seeking restoration of Article 370 and statehood for J&K.

On July 5, Abdullah said the PAGD will contest elections jointly, a move which is seen as a setback to the pre-poll gerrymandering done to help the potential allies of the BJP in Kashmir.

“NC is emerging as a major political threat to the BJP allies in Kashmir and the ED action against Abdullah means elections are near,” said a National Conference worker.

He was JKCA president from 2001 to 2012 and the “scam” being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED is about alleged financial misappropriation between 2004 and 2009.

In December 2020, the agency had attached Abdullah’s properties worth Rs 11.86 crore in the same case.

He was JKCA president from 2001 to 2012 and the “scam” being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED is about alleged financial misappropriation between 2004 and 2009.

The ED claimed its probe so far has “revealed that Ahsan Ahmad Mirza in connivance with other office-bearers of the JKCA, had misappropriated JKCA funds to the tune of Rs 51.90 crore and utilised proceeds of crime for settling his personal and business liabilities”.

The case involves siphoning of funds belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, which were transferred to various personal bank accounts of various people including the office bearers of the association.

The ED initiated the money laundering probe against the JKCA office-bearers on the basis of a case registered at the Rammunshi Bagh Police Station in Srinagar.

The case was later transferred to the CBI on the high court’s directions.

The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the case against the former JKCA office-bearers for misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 43.69 crore.