Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the J&K Bank scam case.
Enforcement Directorate has been questioning former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah in Delhi, in a connection with the J&K Bank scam case. He appeared before the investigators around 11 am today,” news agency ANI quoted ED officials as saying.
Abdullah’s NC, meanwhile, has alleged that the central agencies – the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – are working at the “behest” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre. It alleged that “whereever state elections are due, agencies like the ED move in and target those parties who pose a challenge to the BJP”.
“This summons to our Vice President is in the same vein. We have no doubt that this fishing expedition will yield no concrete results to the BJP and the people will give a ringing endorsement to the national conference as and when required,” it said in a statement on Twitter.
“This summon is another step in the vicious vilification campaign that started even before 5th August 2019, when constitutional position holders like the then Governor were used to make slanderous accusations against opponents of the BJP, knowing full well that there was no legal recourse available to those at the receiving end of these lies,” it added.
Last month, the CBI had booked former J&K Bank chairman Mushtaq Ahmad Shaikh and 18 others for an Rs 800 crore loss to the bank caused due loans to REI Agro. It also booked REI Agro chairman Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, and vice president and managing director Sandeep Jhunjhunwala.
Later, the ED had also taken a cognizance of the case, and initiated a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The case was earlier probed by the anti-corruption branch of Jammu and Kashmir and it had found during its preliminary inquiry that loans worth Rs 800 crore were sanctioned to the group on the basis of fake documents between 2011 and 2013 and in violation of guidelines.
