Srinagar: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday served a notice on the mother of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in connection with a case related to money laundering, the official said here.
The summons served on Gulshan Nazir, who is in her late seventies, has asked her to appear before the ED's Srinagar office on August 18, they said. The Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP slammed the ED over the development, saying it was no coincidence that a summons is served every time the party registers a protest against the Centre's policy on Jammu and Kashmir.
On Thursday, Mufti had led a team of protesters from her party to mark the second anniversary of the Centre's move to abrogate the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5, 2019.
The PDP has asked the ED the details of the case including about the FIR and the accused 'just so we can prepare legally and know what she is going to be asked about'. She was summoned by the ED on earlier occasions also.
The party had conveyed to the ED that she should be allowed human assistance as she was not well versed with English, Hindi and Urdu languages and if the details of the case were known, it would help her in being prepared for the questioning.
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The criminal case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the ED after raids on an alleged associate of Mufti. The diaries contain the details of some purported payments made from the chief minister's discretionary fund in alleged contravention of rules, officials said.
These funds are alleged to have been diverted during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule in the erstwhile state.
A few lakh rupees from these funds are alleged to have been transferred into the accounts of Nazir and some others, and the Enforcement Directorate wants to question her about it, the officials said. Nazir is the wife of the late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
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PTI
