Farooq Abdullah chargesheeted by CBI in JKCA scam

Srinagar, July 17: The CBI filed a charge sheet against former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and three others for allegedly misappropriating over Rs 43 crore from grants given by the BCCI to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association for promoting cricket in the state between 2002 to 2011.

In its charge sheet filed in a special court here, the CBI alleged that Abdullah as the association president at that time had connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others for undue siphoning off and misappropriation of funds, a CBI spokesperson said in New Delhi.

The CBI has charged Abdullah and three others -- the then JKCA general secretary Md Saleem Khan and the then treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza, as also J&K Bank executive Bashir Ahmad Misgar -- under Ranbir Penal Code provisions related to criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

"It was alleged that the BCCI had given Rs 112 crore (approx) to JKCA from the year 2002 to 2011 as grant for the promotion of game of cricket in the State, out of which Rs 43.69 crore (approx) was siphoned off and misappropriated by the accused persons," the agency said in a statement.

The CBI had taken over the case from the state police in 2015 on orders of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

The bench comprising the then Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat had pronounced the order on September 3, 2015 on a PIL filed by two cricketers -- Majid Yaqoob Dar and Nissar Ahmad Khan -- into the alleged scam.

As per reports, Abdullah in his response to the High Court had refuted the allegations claiming that his name was being dragged to tarnish his political image.

The alleged scam was earlier investigated by a special team of the state police, which had failed to conclude its probe after nearly three years, prompting the High Court to hand it over to the CBI in 2015.