 Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 15: Although National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Thursday managed to skip his appearance before the Enforcement Directorate due to “health grounds”, worries ahead for former Chief Minister in the much-publicized Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKSC) scam ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 11, 2024, had summoned Dr Farooq Abdullah for questioning in connection with the JKCA scam.
In the summon the veteran politician was asked to depose at the ED office in Srinagar on Thursday. He was charge-sheeted by the agency, which investigates financial crimes, in the case in 2022.
Instead of appearing before the ED, Dr Farooq Abdullah communicated to the agency about his inability to appear due to his health issues.
Earlier, Dr Farooq skipped his appearance before the Court in 2022 in the same scam, citing health reasons.
Reports said that the former Chief Minister has sent a communication to the ED office in Srinagar through an email and sought an exemption from appearing in person before it on health grounds.
Dr Farooq was president of the JKCA when this scam worth multiple crores took place. He was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED several times earlier in the same case.
Notably, the scam was exposed in 2012 when Muhammad Aslam Goni, the then JKCA managing committee chairman, lodged an FIR with the police on March 10, 2012, against Ahsan Mirza and Mohammad Saleem Khan - the then JKCA general secretary and chief administrative officer respectively - accusing the duo of pushing the funds into bogus bank accounts created in the name of the association.
From 2006 to 2012, the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) had given a whopping amount of Rs 113 crore to the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association as a grant for the promotion of cricket in J&K.
Of this, Rs. 43.69 crores was allegedly siphoned off and misappropriated by some office-bearers of the Association. It was alleged that during this period, the then president of Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association Dr Farooq Abdullah connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others to siphon off the funds.
Mir Manzoor Gazanfar, who resigned as the treasurer of JKCA in 2008, had claimed that Dr. Abdullah visited his hotel in Srinagar and made him sign blank cheques.
In 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court handed over the investigation of the alleged scam to the CBI while indicting the state police for failing to carry out the probe in which Dr. Farooq Abdullah was named.
The CBI had in 2018 filed a chargesheet against four, including Farooq Abdullah, who was the president of the state cricket board over alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore by the accused office bearers. On October 21, 2020, Dr. Farooq Abdullah appeared before the Enforcement Directorate's regional office in Rajbagh in Srinagar's Civil Lines.
The Enforcement Directorate attached properties worth Rs 11.86 crore linked to Dr. Farooq Abdullah in connection with the scam on December 19, 2020.
The attached assets included property at Gupkar Road, Srinagar, a property at Tehsil Katipora, Tanmarg, a property at Bhatindi in Jammu, and one commercial property at the Residency Road area of Srinagar.
On May 31, 2022, ED again questioned Dr Farooq Abdullah in the same scam for over three hours. |
