The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday, 19 December, attached assets to the tune of Rs 11.86 crore of J&K leader and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah in connection with JKCA money laundering case.
"Enforcement Directorate attaches properties of Dr Farooq Abdullah valued around Rs 11.86 crores under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) in connection with the laundering of funds of Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA)," ED said in a statement.
According to the investigation agency, the attached properties include three residential houses, including at Srinagar's Gupkar Road, Tanmarg and in Jammu's Bathindi. A commercial building in Srinagar, and four plots of land in the Union territory have also been attached.
"Between 2006 to January 2012, when Abdullah was JKCA president, he misused his position and clout by illegal appointments of office-bearer to whom he gave financial powers for purpose of laundering of funds [sic]," ED was quoted as saying.
Officials cited by news agency PTI said while the book value of these properties is Rs 11.86 crore, and the market value is around Rs 60-70 crore.
A charge sheet had been filed by the CBI in 2018 against Farooq Abdullah and three others over alleged misappropriation of Rs 43.69 crore between 2002 and 2011, NDTV reported.
‘Will Fight All These Baseless Charges in the Court of Law’: Omar Abdullah
Meanwhile, Farooq Adbullah's son Omar Abdullah said he will "fight all these baseless charges in the one place that matters – a court of law".
"The properties attached are largely ancestral dating from the 1970s with the most recent one built before 2003. There can be no justification for the seizures because they fail the very basic test of having been acquired as the proceeds of the “crime” being investigated," he tweeted.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and NDTV.)
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