National Conference President and former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah will once again be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. This inquiry will take place in a case related to the scam of Rs 94.06 crore in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association JKCA. In this case, apart from questioning Dr. Farooq Abdullah twice in the past, the ED has also temporarily attached his property.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah has been the chairman of JKCA continuously from the year 2001 to 2012. During his tenure as chairman, there was a financial scam in JKCA between 2004 and 2009. From 2002 to December 2011, JKCA had received funds of about Rs 112.33 crore from BCCI.
Dr Abdullah had provided financial officers to some JKCA functionaries, allegedly ignoring the rules. Six new bank accounts were opened in spite of JKCA already having regular and lawful bank accounts. Apart from this, a dormant bank account of JKCA was also revived so that the financial scam could be carried out easily.
After the scam came to light in March 2012, a complaint was lodged with the police on the instructions of the then Chairman of JKCA, Dr. Farooq Abdullah. In this, the former secretary and treasury officer of JKCA was made accused. The matter was later investigated by the Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and in 2015, the CBI took over the investigation.
Taking cognizance of transactions worth crores of rupees, ED also started investigation in this case. In July 2018, the CBI had also filed a chargesheet in the court against four people, including Dr. Farooq.
The ED has also temporarily attached properties of Ahsan Mirza and Mir Manzoor Ghazanfar worth about Rs 11 crore apart from the immovable assets of Dr Farooq Abdullah worth about Rs 12 crore in this case. According to the ED, Dr. Farooq Abdullah has also directly benefited from this scam.
Sources close to the ED said that a notice has been sent to National Conference President and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah for questioning. Dr. Farooq Abdullah is presently a Member of Parliament from Srinagar-Budgam Parliamentary Constituency. Dr Abdullah has been called by the ED for questioning on 31 May 2022 at its Srinagar office.
Dr. Abdullah denied the allegations leveled against him and said that everyone knows that I was the first to inform the police about this scam and lodged the FIR. I have nothing to hide.