ED Summon to Farooq Abdullah is ‘Political Vendetta’, Say J&K Parties

Srinagar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah for questioning in a case related to alleged embezzlement of funds in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).

Abdullah’s questioning is being termed as “political vendetta” by regional parties days after they formed an alliance to fight for the restoration of Article 370 in the region.

The senior National Conference (NC) leader arrived at the ED office in Srinagar at about 11 a.m for recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Abdullah was named in the CBI chargesheet filed in the case in 2018 along with other ex-office bearers, including General Secretary Mohammed Saleem Khan and treasurer Ahsan Mirza for their alleged role in the misappropriation of Rs 43.6 crore from the funds provided for promotion of cricket in the erstwhile state between 2002-11 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). During this time, the BCCI had given the cricket association Rs 112 crore for promotional activities, of which Rs 43.6 crore have been allegedly “siphoned-off.”

The alleged fraud was first investigated by J&K’s local crime branch and was subsequently taken over by CBI on directions of the J&K High Court following which the CBI filed an FIR in the case in September 2015.

The NC leader’s questioning comes days after regional political parties formed a coalition called the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration to fight for the reversal of the August 5, 2019,  move that stripped the state of its “special status” under Article 370 and 35 A, followed by its bifurcation into two Union territories. The alliance was formed at the residence of Farooq Abullah during an all-party meeting attended by senior politicians, including former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Mehbooba Mufti. 

The NC in a statement against Monday’s ED summons, while questioning its timing, alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling at Centre, had failed to politically fight its party president and hence, had employed agencies to target the Opposition.

“The ED summon to Dr Farooq Abdullah is clearly the result of the unity that Dr Sahib has been able to forge among mainstream political parties in J&K. This is the price one faces when opposed to BJP’s ideology and divisive politics,” the NC spokesperson said.  

“Recent history is a witness to how BJP has been employing coercive and intimidating measures through various departments to target Opposition leaders across the country. The recent ED summon to Dr Farooq Abdullah is a case in point,” he added.

PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, who is a signatory to the Gupkar Declaration, also questioned her former political rival’s summoning, terming it as an act of “political vendetta”.

“ED’s sudden summon to Farooq sahab displays the extent of GOIs nervousness about mainstream parties in J&K fighting as one unit. Also reeks of political vendetta & wont in the least blunt our collective resolve to fight for our rights,” she tweeted.

BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur, however, refuted the allegations made by NC and said that the ED summons should not be linked to BJP.

“I wonder why such a huge hullaballoo in NC camp is. If Dr Farooq is clear, he should face the ED probe, why so much of noise in NC? Linking ED summon to BJP is nothing a myopic vision of NC leaders,” Thakur said.