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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for the second time in three days in connection with a multi-crore scam in the JK Cricket Association, with his National Conference terming the summons “yet another attempt to browbeat” the opposition.
Abdullah, who turns 84 , appeared before the ED’s regional office in Rajbagh in the Civil Lines area of the city in the morning. He was earlier questioned in the case for over six hours on Monday.
His son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah expressed his displeasure and tweeted the party statement on his father’s questioning with the comment: “This on a day when my father turns 84!”
This on a day when my father turns 84! https://t.co/Q9h3VPccIn
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 21, 2020
ED officials said on condition of anonymity that Farooq Abdullah has been called again for some clarifications. He was questioned for the first time in July last year in Chandigarh after the agency had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2018.
After the questioning on Monday, Abdullah had said he was not worried and would cooperate in the probe.
Immediately after Farooq Abdullah went in for his second round of questioning in three days, party spokesman Imran Nabi Dar issued a statement expressing anger and said these tactics are only aimed at “browbeating” opposition leaders who raise their voice against the BJP’s “divisive politics”.
The party criticised the government for what it called an “agenda of cornering any voices of dissent”.
“How many times will BJP use CBI, ED, anti-corruption bureau and its other agencies to browbeat opposition? The plot has become predictable. Anyone who speaks against the government or musters courage against its divisive politics will be hounded and summoned,” it said.
Terming these ED summons “calculated coercive measures”, Dar said that it is aimed at curtailing Farooq Abdullah’s efforts to weave unity among mainstream political parties in JK.
