Updated: December 20, 2020 8:00:39 am
J&K ex CM Farooq Abdullah (File photo)
As the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir drew to a close on Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate issued orders to Provisional seizure of properties worth close to Rs 12 crore belonging to the former prime minister and leader of the National Conference Farooq Abdullah. Properties include the house on Gupkar Road in Srinagar where Farooq lives.
The warrants were issued in connection with a money laundering investigation in a case involving the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), from the time the North Carolina leader spearheaded it.
Attached properties include Farooq’s residence on Gupkar Road, residential properties at Tehsil Katipora in Tangmarg and Bhatindi in Sunjwan, Jammu, commercial buildings in the elegant Residency Road area of Srinagar, and land in four different locations in J&K. The accumulated book value of the properties is 11.86 million rupees, the agency said.
Sunjwan’s property is also under scanner in the investigation of Roshni’s alleged land scam on Union territory. A list of “invaded properties” published by the administration as part of the investigation mentioned the Sunjwan residence, jointly owned by Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah, and the DE reiterated this.
Refuting the accusations, Omar Abdullah said the properties were ancestral. “The attached properties are largely ancestral dating from the 1970s with the most recent being built prior to 2003. There can be no justification for the seizures because they fail the basic test of being acquired as a ‘crime’ proceeds that is being investigated, ”Omar said in a tweet.
The attached properties are largely ancestral dating from the 1970s with the most recent being built prior to 2003. There can be no justification for the seizures because they fail the basic test of being acquired as a “crime” proceeds that is investigated.
– Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 19, 2020
He added that the family was exploring legal options and “will fight all these baseless charges in the only place that matters: a court of law.” NC sources said Farooq has 140 days to contest the attachment.
The party described the action as a political revenge, aimed at settling political scores. “It reveals the desperation of the BJP who is using their agencies to settle political scores,” NC said.
In a statement, the ED said: “Between these attached properties, Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s residence and land on Gupkar Road and the commercial buildings on Residency Road, in prime locations, are state leased land. The other attached house in Bhatindi, Village Sunjwan, (Jammu), had been built by Farooq Abdullah on state lands and forests, where he also seized state lands and forests. “
The case is related to the alleged diversion of grants awarded by the BCCI to the JKCA between 2002 and 2011, amounting to more than Rs 43 million. Farooq has been questioned multiple times in the case, including just before the DDC polls.
The ED claims that its investigation has found that from 2005-06 to December 2011, the JKCA received Rs 109.78 crore from the BCCI. “Between 2006 and January 2012, when Dr. Farooq Abdullah was the president of JKCA, he abused his position and influence by illegally appointing officials at JKCA to whom he gave financial powers for the purpose of laundering JKCA funds. The investigation also reveals that Dr. Farooq Abdullah was instrumental in and beneficiary of the laundered funds from JKCA, ”the ED statement said.
The agency claims that despite the JKCA already having a bank account, six new accounts were allegedly opened to park diverted funds. An inactive bank account in the name of the Kashmir wing of the JKCA was also put into operation for this purpose, the agency says.
“JKCA funds in the amount of more than Rs 45 crore have been diverted, including huge cash withdrawals in the amount of Rs 25 crore, with no corresponding justification. Investigations reveal that, for the purpose of generating proceeds of crime, JKCA funds were layered through complex interbank transfers across all JKCA bank accounts and also through transfers to various personal bank accounts, followed by diversion of funds. funds, ”said the ED. statement said.
While an FIR was filed in the case in 2015, the IWC had filed a charge sheet in July 2018, charging Farooq, then JKCA Secretary General Md Saleem Khan, then Treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza and the J&K Bank executive Bashir Ahmad Misgar under the provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code related to criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. It stated that “Abdullah had collaborated with the JKCA treasurer and others for improper diversion and embezzlement.”
In February, the ED had attached assets in the amount of Rs 2.6 crore belonging to two defendants in the case, including Mirza and Mir Manzoor Gazanffer. The two had been appointed by Farooq to the JKCA finance committee.
The CPM said the ED’s action showed that the BJP government was “baffled” by the support that the Peoples’ Alliance candidates for the Gupkar Declaration had garnered in DDC polls, the first election exercise in J&K since. of the removal of their special status.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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