The Enforcement Directorate on Monday questioned former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah in connection with a money laundering probe in a case related to the alleged embezzlement of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association funds, officials said. They said the National Conference president’s statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as in the past. The ED case is based on an FIR filed by the CBI, which booked former JKCA office-bearers, including general secretary Mohammed Saleem Khan and former treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza. The CBI later filed a chargesheet against Abdullah, Khan, Mirza as well as Mir Manzoor Gazanffer Ali, Bashir Ahmad Misgar and Gulzar Ahmad Beigh (former accountant of JKCA) for the “misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore” from grants given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to promote the sport in the state between 2002-11. The ED said its probe found that JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore from BCCI in three different bank accounts during financial years 2005-2006 to 2011-2012 (up to December 2011). Abdullah’s son Omar Abdullah tweeted that the National Conference would be responding to the ED summons shortly. “This is nothing less then political vendetta coming days after the formation of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration. To set the record straight no raids are being conducted at Dr Sahib’s residence,” he tweeted.
