CBI records Farooq’s statement in JKCA embezzlement case

The CBI has recorded the statement of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abullah in connection with its probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.

The case pertains to an alleged embezzlement of over Rs 113 crore of funds at the cricket association, which was headed by Abdullah at the time. The alleged scam has surfaced in 2012.

The agency refused to share any details about the examination of Abdullah but sources said his statement was recorded recently.

Abdullah is not named as a suspect in the FIR registered by the agency, they said.

The CBI had taken over the case from the state police in 2015 on the orders of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

The bench comprising the then Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat had pronounced the order on September 3, 2015 on a PIL filed by two cricketers -- Majid Yaqoob Dar and Nissar Ahmad Khan -- into the alleged scam.

The alleged scam was earlier investigated by a special team of police, which had failed to conclude its probe after nearly three years, prompting the high court to hand it over to the CBI in 2015.