National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday told PTI that he had “done no wrong” and was open to scrutiny after the Enforcement Directorate questioned him in connection with a money laundering investigation related to alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and parlimentarian from Srinagar appeared before investigators at the central investigating agency’s Chandigarh office and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “I have done no wrong,” he said. “I am open to investigation.”
The Enforcement Directorate summoned him for questioning after taking cognisance of a first information report and chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case on July 18, 2018. Abdullah was the president of the state cricket body between 2001 and 2011, when athe lleged irregularities worth Rs 113 crore reportedly took place. He was questioned about suspected money laundering from the cricket association’s bank account, an unidentified official told Hindustan Times. Money allocated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for development of the game in the state was allegedly misappropriated.
Abdullah has claimed that at the time he had ordered an investigation into the scam. On Wednesday, he said it was not the job of the president of the cricket association to track how funds received from the BCCI were being spent.
In 2015, the state high court handed over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation and criticised the state police for failing to properly investigate the high-profile case. The cricket body’s general secretary at the time, Saleem Khan, Treasurer Mohammed Ahsan Mirza, and Jammu and Kashmir Bank official Bashir Ahmed were also named in the chargesheet.
