The Enforcement Directorate on Friday summoned National Conference president Farooq Abdullah for questioning in connection with a money laundering case, PTI reported, citing officials.
The Enforcement Directorate issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. It has asked the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister to appear before it at the headquarters in Delhi on May 31.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in grants of Rs 112 crore given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, reported The Indian Express. The central agency has alleged that funds of over Rs 50 crore were siphoned off between 2002 and 2011 from the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.
The alleged scam came to light in March 2012 when the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Treasurer Manzoor Wazir filed a complaint against its general secretary at the time, Mohammad Saleem Khan, and former treasurer Ahsan Mirza.
Abdullah was the president of the Jammu and Kashmir cricket body between 2001 and 2011.
Abdullah’s party said that the agency’s summons was “nothing new”.
“This is common for all Opposition parties in India,” the National Conference tweeted. “He has continued to maintain his innocence in the matter and has cooperated with the investigative agencies and will do so in this case as well.”
The National Conference said that the Opposition parties “pay a price” for speaking against the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre, the Hindustan Times reported.
“Every time elections are expected to be announced in any state, the investigative agencies move in first to clear the path for the BJP,” said National Conference spokesperson Imran Dar. “This appears to be the case this time as well and this is the price Opposition parties pay for opposing this government.”
Dar said that leaders associated with the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration were always being targeted in Jammu and Kashmir.
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration is an alliance of seven parties in Jammu and Kashmir. It was formed after the Centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019.
In December 2020, the Enforcement Directorate had attached Abdullah’s properties worth Rs 11.86 crore in connection with the case. The agency had questioned Abdullah twice in October that year.
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