New Delhi:
CBI has registered an FIR into the alleged misappropriation of funds in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
Sources said the agency has taken over the case from state police on the orders of Division Bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The bench comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat had pronounced the order on September 3 on a PIL filed by two cricketers - Majid Yaqoob Dar and Nissar Ahmad Khan - into the alleged scam in the JKCA Cricket Association 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 over Rs 113 crore of funds in the cricket association, which was headed by former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah at the time.
Dr Abdullah is not named as suspect in the FIR registered by the agency, they said.
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.
JKCA found itself caught in another controversy in July when a rebel members' group sought to end Abdullah's 35-year-old rule as the president of the association by electing PDP leader and Sports Minister Imran Reza Ansari as its new chief.
The Dr Abdullah-led faction has challenged that election in court.