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Jammu and Kashmir government smothers Farooq Abdullah's Rs 113 crore scam

Investigators say CM's office specifically asked them to go slow on the cricket association scam

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An  open-and-shut case of embezzlement to the tune of Rs 113 crore has been left hanging in Jammu and Kashmir for the last two years.

Investigators have proved the prima facie involvement of former Union minister and patron of ruling National Conference Dr Farooq Abdullah in the murky dealings of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). And then, the probe slowed down.

Documents accessed by dna show Dr Abdullah, along with nine JKCA office-bearers, are offenders under Sections 406, 168 and 120-B of the RPC for making the sports body a lending agency and for operating many bogus accounts.

The documents narrate a tale of pilfering public money to make up the lavish lifestyles of the members of the association, while cricketers and coaches recount tales of sufferings for want of money and sports infrastructure.

Investigators told dna that once the name of Dr. Abdullah cropped up as accused number 5 in the FIR No. 27/2012, they were specifically told to go slow. In fact, even the FIR was kept confidential.
Fearing the scam, chief minister Omar Abdullah, son of Dr Farooq Abdullah, attempted to botch up investigation and went slow on granting permission for custodial interrogations of the accused.

An official involved in the probe said while two accused even secured anticipatory bail from the Srinagar sessions court, it was deliberately not challenged in a higher court.

This was done to delay investigations, since if a single accused is imprisoned, the police will be legally-bound to file charges within 60 days of his arrest.

"Even now, there is no move to file a charge sheet in a court of law," investigators say.

An overview of the bank details since Dr Abdullah became president on October 14, 2001, suggests that the JKCA has opened 18 bogus bank accounts, which don't find mention in the records and annual statements.

Twelve accounts were opened in the Khanyar branch in Srinagar of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and six accounts in the Cargo branch.

Investigators also found an account in the Centurion Bank of Punjab in Jammu (later merged with HDFC Bank) in the personal name of one Ramesh Mahajan, with the address of the cricket association office in Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.

Around Rs 20 lakh has been swindled through this account, with no explanation coming from office-bearers. JKCA treasurer Ahsan Mirza also opened an account in the bank, transacted Rs 4.6 crore upto 2009 and closed it subsequently.

JKCA, under Dr Abdullah, also distributed money as loans to 50 individuals, mostly its own members and some companies. This includes Rs. 58.91 lakh to -treasurer Ashutosh Sharma, Rs 13.3 lakh to top bureaucrat Mehbob Iqbal (currently contesting assembly elections from a PDP ticket), and Rs 50 lakh to current treasurer Manzoor Wazir and others.

The office-bearers also allowed defaulters to retain the amount for years together, advanced during previous years, and even after their leaving the association.

Hotelier Manzoor Gaznafar and Mirza, both former treasurers, and two other office-bearers were given loans worth Rs 4.05 crore, with acknowledgements off the records.

Police say the money trail could not be traced because they were not allowed custodial interrogation of Dr Farooq Abdullah and other members of the association.

Gaznafar told police that he had invested the money he got from JKCA in a business in Rajasthan in partnership with ex-treasurer Ahsam Ahmad Mirza, a close confidante of Dr. Abdullah.

There has been no move to inquire the nature of business and trail of money, leading to apprehensions that money could have been used for political activities of a regional party.

Curiously, the police also found two parallel balance sheets by the JKCA and authenticated by Chartered Account firm Gullani and Majid.

In the balance sheet of 2009-10, JKCA accounts in two branches of J&K Bank and one in SBI find no mention.

While JKCA claims it has spent Rs 5.53 crore in building infrastructure at Science College, Jammu, and SK Cricket Stadium, Srinagar, investigators say, at first look, the expenditure doesn't match the ground picture.

Their request to the government for an expert from the construction division to authenticate the expenditures fell on deaf ears.

"It has come to fore that frequent withdrawal of huge amounts of cash from banks has taken place instead of making payments through cheques as a means to watch cash flow/payments," documents authenticated by the probe team say.

Though Rs 1.9 crore was availed by Mirza under the orders of Farooq Abdullah, the accounts/balance sheets don't reveal show it.

Such was Mirza's grip on officer-bearers that even after leaving the office of treasurer, he still controlled financial matters and didn't hand over bank records and other documents to the new treasurer. A JKCA in-house committee questioned this.

When contacted, Dr Abdullah's office said he was unable to speak as he was indisposed and recuperating in a London hospital. However, they sent a copy of statement Dr. Abdullah had given to the police.

Dr Abdullah's office said he was unable to speak as he was indisposed and recuperating in a London hospital.

While admitting that the office-bearers might have misled him while preparing the documents, Dr Abdullah defended the amount handed over to Mirza, saying he was actually repaying the loan Mirza had lend to JKCA to meet its daily expenses in 2007, when its accounts were frozen by the court.

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