Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in connection with a bank fraud, claimed the central agency did not accuse him and that he will help with the investigation.
“They (ED) did not accuse me of anything. They called me for questioning in connection with an ongoing investigation of a 12-13-year-old case. I answered them as much as I could. I will further help them if they need me,” Abdullah told mediapersons here. ED questioned Abdullah here in the national capital for five and a half hours in connection with Jammu and Kashmir Bank scam case on Thursday.
Around 11 a.m., Abdullah came before the investigators at the ED’s headquarters. The ED had already summoned the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and invited him to meet its Delhi office on Thursday.
Abdullah is suspected of creating many accounts in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank with the help of his close aides, including Ahsan Mirza, who was permitted to sign cheques, according to the ED. ANI stated that Mirza, despite not being an elected office holder, was designated “treasurer” of the JK Cricket Association (JKCA) by Abdullah, and that duplicate JKCA accounts were formed in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in collusion with a top bank employee.
The participation of a now-retired senior officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in assisting the previous Chief Minister in opening bank accounts based on “inadequate” documentation is also being investigated.
In 2007, Mir Manzoor Gazanfar, the JKCA’s then-elected treasurer, brought these “illegal” transactions to the attention of JKCA president Abdullah, who reportedly overlooked the irregularities.
According to Gazanfar, it was Mirza, who was appointed treasurer in 2003 and was moving money to illicit accounts on Abdullah’s behalf, who was sending the money to unapproved accounts.
In July 2019, the ED questioned Abdullah based on claims made by Mirza and other individuals who had previously been questioned by the agency.
