ED summons Mufti’s mother in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday issued summons to Gulshan Nazir, mother of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, to appear before the agency on July 14 in connection with a money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday issued summons to Gulshan Nazir, mother of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, to appear before the agency on July 14 in connection with a money laundering case.

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The notice came hours after the PDP announced its decision to stay away from the proceedings of the Delimitation Commission in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sharing a copy of the ED summon on Twitter, Mufti said: “On the day PDP chose not to meet Delimitation Commission, ED sent a summon to my mother to appear in person for unknown charges. In its attempts to intimidate political opponents, GOI doesn’t even spare senior citizens. Agencies like NIA & ED are now its tools to settle scores.”

Nazir, who is in her 70s, is the wife of late former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. She has been asked to visit the ED zonal office in Srinagar on July 14 for the probe.

According to news agency PTI, the case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the central agency following raids on an alleged associate of Mehbooba.

The diaries contain details of some purported payments made from the chief minister’s discretionary fund in alleged contravention of rules. These funds are alleged to have been diverted during the PDP rule in the erstwhile state.

A few lakh rupees from these funds are alleged to have been transferred into the accounts of Nazir and some others, officials told the news agency.

Mehbooba was questioned by the central agency in March this year in connection with a separate money laundering case.

The Delimitation Commission headed by Ranjana Prakash Desai, retired judge of Supreme Court, is on a four-day visit to the UT to meet political leaders and officials to chalk out new voting constituencies.