NEW DELHI, Sep 21: CBI today registered a case against two former top officials and others of the JK Cricket Association (JKCA) to probe alleged misappropriation of Rs 40 crore funds in the cricket body by opening “bogus” bank accounts.
CBI re-registered the case filed by the state police against the then JKCA General Secretary and treasurer Saleem Khan and Mohd Ahsan Mirza respectively under sections of 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Ranbir Penal Code, official sources said.
According to the police FIR, filed at Ram Munshi Bagh police station against these two and other unknown officials, it was alleged that Rs 40 crore was allegedly misappropriated by JKCA officials by operating bogus accounts in different branches of Jammu and Kashmir bank under their joint signatures.
The registering of the case by the CBI, following an order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, was welcomed by former JKCA President and former state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah who said, “I am happy that the investigations have begun and I hope that the CBI completes the probe expeditiously”.
CBI may find it an auphill task in probing the case as many of the documents pertaining to the case were washed away in the floods that hit the Valley last year, the sources said.
The CBI swung into action after a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat ordered on September 3 on a PIL filed by two cricketers — Majid Yaqoob Dar and Nissar Ahmad Khan — into the alleged scam in the JKCA that had surfaced in 2012.
The bench had on August 25 reserved its order on whether to hand over to the crime branch or any other agency the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds in the cricket association, which was then headed by Abdullah.
The alleged scam was being investigated by a special team of police, which had failed to conclude its probe after nearly three years.
“Our only doubt is whether the crime branch can go to BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) from where funds are flowing and make investigation there (BCCI headquarters, Mumbai) or some central agency is to be involved,” the bench had observed during the last hearing. (PTI)
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