SRINAGAR, July 18: Union minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah, who is also the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), has been exonerated of the multi-crore embezzlement charge by the in-house interim probe, sources in the association said.
The report, however, indicts association chairman Mohammad Aslam Goni, wire agency IANS quoted sources as saying.
Goni had lodged a police complaint in Srinagar March 10 and Abdullah ordered an in-house inquiry into the allegations of misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 40.53 crore.
The in-house probe report will shortly be submitted to Abdullah for action, sources said.
Besides Goni, the report accuses then treasurer Ahsan Mirza and secretary Saleem Khan of tampering with the resolutions which had been given by the JKCA office-bearers to the banks for operation of the association’s accounts.
The sources revealed that the interim report concludes that the three members – Goni, Mirza and Khan who operated JKCA accounts – were solely responsible for the handling of the fund that was meant for the development of the game in the state.
The report also points towards the involvement of some bank officials, and alleges they may have facilitated JKCA office-bearers in mishandling finances in one way or the other.
Goni denied knowledge of any interim report of the in-house inquiry. “I do not know when and who held this inquiry, as no one spoke to me,” he said.
