The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the assets of former Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza and others in a case of alleged misappropriation of funds.
In the same case, the agency had earlier attached properties worth ₹14.32 crore, including that of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. The fresh attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is worth ₹7.25 crore.
Case transferred to CBI
The ED probe is based on a First Information Report registered by the Rammunshi Bagh police in Srinagar. The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the direction of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Dr. Abdullah, as the then president of the JKCA; its then general secretary Mohammed Salim Khan; Mr. Mirza; and senior J&K Bank executive Basheer Ahmad Misgar.
According to the ED, Mr. Mirza and others misappropriated JKCA funds to the tune of ₹51.90 crore and used them for settling personal and business liabilities. In November 2019, the agency had filed a charge sheet against him after he was arrested in the case.
As alleged, between 2002 and 2011, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had granted ₹112 crore to the State Association for infrastructure development and cricket promotion. However, a portion of the funds was diverted by the office-bearers and siphoned off.
