Case filed against former J&K minister's son in bank scam, accused of sponsoring popular comedian's show

On Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation booked Hilal Rather, the son of former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather. The case was filed for Rs 177 crore bank fraud. The CBI took over the case after a request from the Anti-Corruption Branch of J&K.

Hilal has been accused of diverting business loans from J&K Bank to properties in the US and Dubai and sponsoring a T20 cricket team and a show hosted by a popular stand-up comedian. It was also alleged that he took a loan in 2012 for his ambitious township project, known as Paradise Avenue, at Narwal Bala in Jammu. The loans were declared 'non-performing assets' in 2017.

Hilal was arrested in Jammu on January 16 and later remanded in judicial custody. He has been in and out of hospitals since that time. The J&K High Court had directed the medical superintendent of Government Medical College in Jammu to examine Hilal, who is believed to be suffering from a kidney ailment, and submit a report by the end of today.

A senior Anti-Corruption Bureau officer told Times of India that the team asked the CBI to take over the case on March 2 since it was better equipped to handle the case. Back in 2012, Hilal's father Abdul Rahim was the finance minister in the National Conference-Congress coalition government.