National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti's sister Rubaiya Sayeed were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in different cases on Friday.
Dr. Abdullah has been asked by the ED to join the investigation on May 31 at its Chandigarh office. Earlier, Dr. Abdullah was questioned twice in 2019 and 2020 by the ED, which is investigating alleged misappropriation of funds in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). Dr. Abdullah was president of the JKCA from 2001 to 2011.
In Jammu, a TADA court summoned Ms. Sayeed, sister of Ms. Mufti and daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, on July 15 for recording her statement in relation to the abduction case involving JKLF chief Yasin Malik. Ms. Sayeed was kidnapped in 1989 by the gunmen of the JKLF in Srinagar. Ms. Sayeed, who was then daughter of Union Home Minister, is one of the prosecution witnesses in the abduction case.
The TADA court had last year framed charges against Malik and nine others in the abduction case. The development comes just two days after an National Investigation Agency (NIA) court awarded life sentence to Malik in a militancy funding case, which was registered by the agency in 2017.
NC’s charge
Meanwhile, an NC spokesman said it was not a coincidence that only leaders who belong to the Peoples Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) were targeted in Jammu and Kashmir. Both the NC and the PDP are part of the Gupkar alliance.
"Every time elections are expected to be announced in any State, the investigative agencies move in first to clear a path for the BJP. This appears to be the case this time as well and this is the price Opposition parties pay for opposing this government," the NC said.
Dr. Abdullah has continued to maintain his innocence in the matter and has cooperated with the investigative agencies and will do so in this case as well, it added.
