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JKCA money laundering case: Farooq Abdullah summoned by Enforcement Directorate again
The fresh summons have evoked a sharp response from National Conference which has termed it part of a coercive plot and expressed dismay over unnecessary hounding of the senior leader
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah, who is also an MP from Srinagar, has been summoned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning regarding the Jammu and Kashmir cricket scam for the second time in three days.
On Monday, Abdullah was questioned at the ED office at Rajbagh for six hours. On Wednesday, he was summoned by ED again.
The fresh summons have evoked a sharp response from National Conference which has termed it part of a coercive plot and expressed dismay over unnecessary hounding of the senior leader.
In a statement, NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar said these ED summons are calculated coercive measures, aimed at curtailing Abdullah’s efforts to unite mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
He termed the repeated ED summons pressure tactics. “What is it that ED forgot to ask during the six hours it interrogated an 83-year-old Member of Parliament?”
The government and its agencies, the spokesperson said, have no consideration for a law-abiding citizen who is severely immuno-compromised and diabetic.
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“Dr Abdullah being treated like this is proof that the BJP is not even interested in a face-saving act and is completely comfortable with being seen as a bully by the nation,” he said.
“How many times will the BJP use the CBI, ED, the anti-corruption bureau and its other agencies to browbeat the Opposition? The plot has become predictable. Anyone who speaks against the government or against its divisive politics will be hounded and summoned,” he said, adding that the only way to get a clean chit these days is to surrender one’s ideology and join the BJP. “We have seen this story play out from Assam to Karnataka, from West Bengal to Andhra Pradesh, but Dr Abdullah is not going to surrender to the BJP, come what may.”
Ten office-bearers of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), including Abdullah, are accused of turning the sports body into a lending agency and operating several bogus accounts between 2005 and 2012 when the scam was unearthed.
The scam came to light in March 2012 when JKCA treasurer Manzoor Wazir filed a police complaint against former general secretary Mohammad Saleem Khan and former treasurer Ahsan Mirza. Soon, a list of around 50 names linked to the financial scandal was released.
The ED attached assets worth ₹2.6 crore in the money laundering case related to the alleged embezzlement of JKCA funds, the central agency said in a statement issued in February. A provisional order for the attachment of assets was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against former JKCA treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza and its finance committee member Mir Mansoor Gazanffer.
All mainstream parties except the BJP criticised the government for issuing summons to the senior-most politician of Jammu and Kashmir, after they came up with the Gupkar declaration and formed an alliance to work towards the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.
