New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday summoned former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti for questioning on March 15 in a money laundering case, officials said.
The 60-year-old PDP leader, who was released last year after more than a year in detention following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, has been served notice to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capital.
After the ED summons, Mehbooba said the Centre’s “tactics to intimidate and browbeat political opponents” won’t work.
“GOI’s tactics to intimidate & browbeat political opponents to make them toe their line has become tediously predictable. They don’t want us to raise questions about its punitive actions & policies. Such short-sighted scheming won’t work,” she wrote on Twitter, without any mention of the ED notice.
According to officials, the case has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Agency sources did not specify the case in which she has been summoned but indicated that it could be linked to alleged financial irregularities in loans taken in the past from Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
The agency had searched the premises of Anjum Fazili, a close side of the PDP leader, in December last year and had seized over Rs 28 lakh in cash.
The raids were carried out at Fazili’s premises in Srinagar and Delhi in connection with a money laundering case.
Criticising the ED summons to Mehbooba, People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) chairperson Farooq Abdullah said “political vendetta” would not help in improving the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Centre should “put an end to this kind of vendetta” and allow democratic processes to continue smoothly, said Abdullah, also a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Political vendetta will not help in improving the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” the National Conference chief added.
The PAGD is an alliance of various mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). These parties have come together to work towards restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s special status that was revoked by the Centre in August 2019.
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