SRINAGAR: Former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that the questioning of National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association scam could be a deliberate attempt on part of the government to intimidate the Kashmiri leadership.
Soon after Abdullah was summoned by ED to appear before the agency at its Chandigarh office, Mufti wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter “JK cricket scam is an old case that’s been under investigation for quite some time. ED questioning Farooq Sahab at a time when J&K mainstream parties are collectively standing up to protect its unique identity raises suspicions & questions. Misusing central agencies to harass & intimidate those who dissent or don’t fall in line has become quite blasé & brazen.”
Abdullah, J&K’s three-time chief minister, has been previously interrogated by a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged scam in January 2018.
The CBI filed a charge-sheet against him and three others in alleged Rs. 113.66 crore scam in Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court in Srinagar in July last year. They were charged under relevant sections of Ranbir Penal Code including Sections 406, 168 and 120-B related to fraud, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust.
The alleged scam surfaced in March 2012 and Abdullah, the then JKCA president, along with several others, was also named accused in it. Abdullah had not denied there has been a scam in the association but had insisted on him not being involved.
The ED had filed the money laundering case after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR and charge sheet.
After ED questioning, the former chief minister asserted he had “done no wrong” and was open to scrutiny. “I’ve done no wrong. I am open to investigation,” he told Press Trust of India over phone. Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, said it was not the job of the president of the JKCA to keep a track of how the funds received from BCCI were spent. “I have recorded my statement today. The matter is sub-judice and I have full faith in the judiciary of the country,” he said.
