Stadium XI registers thrilling win

2nd Simula Budding Cricketers T20 Tourney 

Team effort helped Stadium XI to script a thrilling win over Untamed Lions XI on the penultimate ball of the match in the ongoing 2nd Simula Budding Cricketers T20 Tournament, organized by Simula Software at MA Stadium, here today. 

Needing 111 runs to win in the stipulated 20 overs, Stadium XI chased the target in an exciting contest in the last over by losing 6 wickets in the process, thus won the match by four wickets with just one ball to spare. 

Vansh was the top scorer with 25 runs including 3 boundaries, while Kanaya and Vivrant contributed 18 and 14 runs to the total respectively with two boundaries each. For Untamed Lions XI, Deepak, Ravish, Anirudh and Abhishek claimed apiece each. Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Untamed Lions XI bundled out for 110 runs in 16.5 overs. Arjun hit 17-ball 24 runs including 3 boundaries, while Abhishek scored 22 off 30 balls with the help of two fours. Rohan also contributed 17-ball 17 runs with 2 boundaries. Vivrant, Surgan and Sudhanshu scalped three wickets each for Stadium XI, while Abhishek claimed one wicket. 

Match was officiated by Rajinder Singh and Vijay as umpires, while Sohail acted as the scorer.

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Multi Crore Cricket Scam

WC seeks CBI probe into ‘embezzlements’

HC issues notice; asks Govt, JKCA, J&K Bank, BCCI to file objections

The Working Committee (WC) of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) has sought registration of FIR and a CBI probe into the recently surfaced multi-crore cricket scam in Kashmir.

 According to advocate Abhinav Sharma, the counsel for the working committee of JKCA, an application was filed before the Jammu wing of the state High Court seeking CBI probe into the scam.

 “In this application, we have prayed that since the names of some political personalities have surfaced in the scam, the police cannot probe the matter impartially and fairly. So we have sought court directions for the CBI enquiry into the matter,” advocate Sharma said.

 Justice Husnain Masoodi, who heard the matter yesterday, issued notices to the state government, JKCA, J&K Bank, and BCCI to file objection within two weeks.

 Advocate Sharma said that the application was filed at a time when the main petition filed by the working committee of the JKCA comprising Avtar Krishan Tickoo, Chaman Lal Chrungoo, M L Nehru and others is pending for disposal before the court.

 In its main petition filed last year, the working committee of the JKCA had challenged the suspension of ML Nehru from the working committee which was stayed by the court later.

 Since the appointment of auditor was made by Mohammad Aslam Goni, the former general secretary of JKCA against the association’s constitution, in its main petition the working committee had also prayed that the audited accounts of the cricket association duly audited by the auditor appointed under the constitution of the JKCA be produced before the High Court.

 The petitioners, according to advocate Sharma, had also sought court to appointment of a receiver, who according to him, would manage the affairs of the cricket association. “We had prayed that since there are financial irregularities and mismanagement in the JKCA, the affairs of the association be managed by the court appointed receiver,” advocate Sharma informed.

 The counsel for the working committee had also furnished a J&K Bank statement from April 2009 to December 2009, which according to advocate Sharma reveals that the office bearers of the JKCA including the former general secretary and the treasurer had withdrawn about Rs 3 Crores by way of self cheques. The working committee had also sought an enquiry into the functioning of JK Bank. The withdrawal of money by way of self cheques was later barred by the High Court, he added.

 Meanwhile, the High Court had allowed the petitioners (working committee of JKC) to hold fresh elections of the office bearers of the JKCA. By virtue of this order, fresh elections were held on June 23, 2011 wherein the office bearers of the association were elected including Dr Farooq Abdullah as the president of JKCA for a term of three years, which according to advocate Sharma was against the constitution of JKCA.

 “Dr Farooq got elected as president, Aslam Goni as chairman and Ehsan Mirza as general secretary for a term of three years while as the constitution of the JKCA says the elections for these posts are valid for one year only. Even there was no amendment made to the constitution of the JKCA prior to these elections,” advocate Sharma said.

 The working committee had later challenged these elections in the court which is pending for disposal. “Meanwhile, another fraud was detected in Khanyar wherein it is said that crores of rupees have been siphoned off. This prompted us to filed the fresh application (CMP) seeking registration of FIR and CBI probe into the matter,” advocate Sharma informed.

 Pertinently, Mohammad Saleem Khan, the then Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Ehsan Mirza the former General Secretary of JKCA are on interim bail which has been extended till April 7.

 Notably, a Special Investigation Team of police has been already formed to probe the matter. However, the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been demanding a probe by the CBI as on March 12, the PDP sought adjournment of normal business in the state Assembly and holding discussion over it.

 The PDP has maintained that there is a need to get the investigation conducted by CBI in the case as has happened in similar nature of allegations outside Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in case of Suresh Kalmadi.

 The police had earlier said that it was Muhammad Aslam Goni the Chairman of JKCA who had lodged the complaint about misappropriation of funds in the Association before it. Later the police conducted raids at several places in connection with the complaint.

 According to reports the alleged fraud was detected when Mirza was summoned by the JKCA earlier who admitted shortfall in the accounts.

 He had been reportedly asked to deposit Rs 1.5 crore in the JKCA accounts by the end of this month.

 A local news agency had quoted J&K Bank Chairman, Mushtaq Ahmad, saying “We are investigating the case. It will take some time. A Bank supervision team is already looking into the matter. I can comment only when they will complete the probe.” 

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SIT seizes bank records in JKCA scam

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted for investigations into Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) related scam today seized the banks records pertaining to the scandal.

According to a police officer, who is part of SIT, they visited Khanyar and Air Cargo branches of Jammu and Kashmir bank today. He said that the team seized the records of five accounts pertaining to JKCA.

The police officer said the accounts have not been frozen yet and a decision to this effect would most probably be taken tomorrow. “We are studying the seized documents. We will report the findings to higher ups and most probably in morning a decision regarding the freezing of bank accounts would be communicated to we people,” the police officer said.

He added that the initial investigation reveals it a high profile case. “The investigation into the scam is an uphill task and the members of team are working round the clock to investigate the case,” the officer said.

An official in J&K Bank said that they have not yet received any communiqué regarding freezing of the  controversial bank accounts of J&KCA operated by Mirza and Saleem.

Here it needs a mention that soon after the uproar in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly over JKCA scam police registered a case at Ram Munshi Bagh Police station vide FIR number 27/2012 based on the complaint lodged by association chairman Muhammad Aslam Goni against two officials Ahsan Mirza and Mohammad Saleem Khan.

To investigate the case Jammu and Kashmir police yesterday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and it is headed by Sub-divisional Police officer (SDPO) Nehru Park Ghulam Geelani Wani. Other members of the team, are two officers of the rank of inspector, two officers of sub-inspector rank and some other staff.

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Farooq rejects JKCA Scam allegations

Union Minister Farooq Abdullah today rejected as unfortunate allegations of his involvement in the multi-crore J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) scam, an issue which also rocked the state Assembly.

"I have not taken a penny in any form from JKCA. There is no question of any money being bungled. The tarnishing of my image is unfortunate," Farooq, who heads the JKCA, told reporters in Delhi, breaking his silence on the allegations that there was bungling of funds received by the state cricket body from the BCCI.

The assertion by Farooq, who heads the JKCA, came on a day when opposition PDP raised the scam issue in the state Assembly demanding a CBI probe into alleged bungling of funds and gave a notice for an adjournment motion to enable an immediate discussion.

The notice was however rejected by Assembly Speaker Mohmmad Akbar Lone amid pandemonium with PDP members raising anti-government slogans following up with a walkout.

J&K Police on Saturday registered a case against two former officials of JKCA following allegations of misappropriation of funds, received by the body from the BCCI.

The case was registered against the then treasurer Ehsan Mirza and then General Secretary Mohammad Saleem Khan based on the complaint lodged by JKCA chairman Mohammad Aslam Goni.

After PDP members staged a walkout from the Assembly, its leader Mehbooba Mufti demanded that an FIR be lodged against Farooq.

"We demand a CBI probe in multi-crore scam in JKCA headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah as was done in case of Suresh Kalmadi. An FIR should be lodged against him", Mehbooba told reporters outside the Assembly complex in Jammu.

Mehbooba, who along with other members of PDP were sitting on stairs leading to Assembly complex and raising anti-government slogans, said "we want Centre to take cognizance of the multi-crore scam invovling Farooq and take same measures as they did to their Chief Ministers and Ministers in connection with allegations against them".

Reacting to Mehbooba's allegations against him, Farooq said she should check facts before making charges.

"I am too clean for Mehbooba Mufti to rub dirt on me," he said, adding, "law will take its own course." The Union Minister reiterated there was no embezzlement of any funds.

As Assembly proceedings began this morning, PDP legislators led by Mehbooba, who is also Leader of Opposition, raised the issue of alleged financial bungling in JKCA.

Javaid Mir and A R Veeri sought adjournment of the Business of the question hour and holding of a debate.

Speaker Lone said he has rejected the adjournment notice as the issue raised in it has already come up in the House.

The members stood up from their benches and resorted to sloganeering against the state government.

Even as the question hour continued amid noisy scenes, there was no let up in slogan shouting by PDP members.

Mehbooba alleged that it was Farooq as President of JKCA who wrote to Bank to facilitate transitions. "He cannot make someone scape-goat and allow himself to go scot-free," she said.

However, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minsiter Ali Mohmmad Sagar told reporters that PDP wants to rake up the issue for political gains.

"When an FIR has been lodged on the direction of Dr Abdullah himself, how is that they reach to conclusions", he said, asking PDP how it has reached the conclusion to allege there was a "Rs 50 Crore embezzlement."

The embezzlement of several crores of rupees was detected in JKCA funds a few days ago, following which the then treasurer Ehsan Mirza and former general secretary and current Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Saleem Khan were sacked from the JKCA.

In a letter to JKCA chairman Mohammad Aslam Goni on Saturday, the Khanyar branch manager of JK Bank wrote that an amount of Rs 1.90 crore has been credited to the account of Mirza based on the authority letter allegedly issued by the JKCA President.

Farooq said this amount was released following a resolution passed by JKCA to allow work of the association to go on.

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JKCA members demand Gonis ouster

Police raids office, residences of Mirza, Khan

Police today raided the office of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) and the residences of two accused in the multi-crore scam in the Association after an FIR was lodged against them with the police. The working committee members of the JKCA have asked the president, Dr Farooq Abdullah, to clean the mess in JKCA by removing backdoor entrants like its chairman, Aslam Goni.

JKCA chairman, Mohammad Aslam Goni, today lodged an FIR (27/2012 dated 10-03-2011) in the police station Ram Munshi Bagh, Srinagar, against former general secretary Ahsan Mirza and former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Salim Khan.

Police conducted raids in the JKCA office at high security Sonwar area in the SK Cricket Stadium in the morning and seized the records of the Association. However, they could only find the records from July 2011 onwards as they were told that rest of the records are with former general secretary, Ahsan Mirza.

Soon after, the police party raided the house of Salim Khan at Chhanpora and documents regarding JKCA were seized from there. It was followed by the raid on the house of Ahsan Mirza at Nageen where documents pertaining to JKCA were seized. However, neither Salim Khan nor Ahsan Mirza were present at their residences as both of them evaded arrests.

Both Mirza and Khan approached the session's court Srinagar for anticipatory bail. Mirza was granted the anticipatory bail by the Session Court till Wednesday while Khan was refused the bail as court asked him to wait for the police report.

Both Mirza and Khan were called by SSP Srinagar Aashiq Bukhari to his office in the evening. Mirza went straight to SSP's office from the Court while Khan didn't report to his office as he was not granted the anticipatory bail.

Meanwhile, Excelsior has got hold of a letter (Shiraz/ADV/2012) that was issued on March 1, 2012 by the Manager Jammu and Kashmir Bank Branch, Khanyar, Srinagar. The letter addressed to the chairman JKCA says: "On the authority of letter issued by hon'ble president J&KCA the loan of ` 1.9 crore was raised against own deposits of the Association on July 3, 2008 and proceeds whereof were credited to Current Account No. 90695 of Ahsan Mirza maintained with the business unit."

The letter confirmed that the loan of ` 1.9 crore on July 7, 2008 availed by Ahsan Mirza against the two fixed deposits of JKCA bearing numbers 1824619 and 1824620 of ` 1.15 crore each and was credited to his account had sanction of the JKCA top brass.

It may be mentioned here that the letter was issued by the manger in order to save his skin after he was repeatedly asked by the present treasurer, Manzoor Wazir, about the ` 1.9 crore loan that was raised by JKCA and transferred to Ahsan Mirza's account.

In the meantime, records suggested that the JKCA's shady Current Account (90696) in J&K Bank Branch Khanyar was opened by Ahsan Mirza after the production of a copy of the 2005-2006 Resolution of the JKCA that was signed by JKCA president Farooq Abdullah, Saleem Khan and Ahsan Mirza. However, then Chairman Mehboob Iqbal had not signed it.

Meanwhile, the JKCA members today demanded suspension of the chairman of the JKCA, Aslam Goni, former secretary Ahsan Mirza and former CAO Salim Khan from the working committee.

In a resolution passed unanimously today by the 35 members of the working committee, president of the JKCA, Dr Farooq Abdullah was asked to convene a meeting of the fresh working committee members and dissolve the present office bearers.

The resolution said that the scam has tarnished the image of JKCA and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "The office bearers of the JKCA are not the genuine members of the Association and have forced their entry in the JKCA through sheer exploitation of their contacts", the resolution read.

The genuine cricketers can never indulge in such type of loot of money meant for cricket and we feel that making a scape goat can't clean the Association, the resolution reads further.

The chairman of the Bank Mushtaq Ahmad, meanwhile has directed the Supervision and Control division of the bank to probe how the JKCA officials were allowed to withdraw such huge amounts of money in cash and other aspects of the JKCA accounts.

"We are investigating the case and it will take some time. The bank division is already looking into the matter", the chairman added.

Our Jammu Correspondent adds:-

Aslam Goni told press conference that JKCA will cooperate with the investigating agencies to unearth the scam and make all the records available for their perusal so that action may be taken against the persons, who were found guilty in the multi-crore scam.

Goni further stated that Ahsan Mirza accepted his fault and asked the authorities that he will pay the amount back to JKCA during a meeting with him and other officials of the association at Srinagar.

Responding to the queries, Goni said that the current treasurer Manzoor Ahmad Wazir of the association noticed the bogus account of the Jammu Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) and bungling of crores of rupees being provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as subsidy and informed Dr Farooq Abdullah, president of the association, who further told him to lodge an FIR in this regard, so that the truth may come out.

He further added that they have taken the matter with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and have asked them to provide full details of the subsidy amount sanctioned to JKCA from the year 1996 to till date so that they can detect the fraud.

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JKCA scam

A fifty crore scam in JKCA has come to light albeit by chance. And the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was quick to block discussion on it since according to PDP chief "a tall person" was involved. Since the "tall person" is not a member of the House, the Speaker contended that the matter did not fall within the jurisdiction of the House and as such any charges against Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the Chairman of JKCA, cannot be discussed in the House. JKCA has received its share of money from BCCI. It operates that money in the State for the development of sports especially the game of cricket among the youth of the State. The House has the right to discuss what is going on in such an institution of the State. The question is that the Chairman confesses that irregularities have happened in JKCA. How did these happen and who is responsible for swindling large amounts of money by opening fake accounts in two bank branches? These questions point to a well planned conspiracy to swindle the money. Obviously when an enquiry will take place, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, being at the head of the JKCA, too, will have to clarify his position. It is right that aspersions should not be cast on anybody including Farooq Abdullah. Nobody doubts his credentials. But the fact is that a scam has surfaced in an organization which he is heading. It is only logical that an enquiry has to be conducted and he has also to clarify his position. We should not try to unnecessarily read between the lines but we need to know the facts. However, it was premature on the part of PDP leadership to bring a litany of unsubstantiated corruption charges against the Government.

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Kashmir Cricket Bats

Willow on the wane, Kashmir cricket bat faces extinction

Kashmir’s fabled cricket bats may soon call it a day as the main raw material—the willow—is fast disappearing due to the long gestation period and low returns for farmers.The industry, with around 300 small and big manufacturing units, provides direct and indirect employmentto nearly 15,000 people in the Valley and is estimated to have an annual turnover of over Rs 10 crore.

Dwindling willow plantation amid allegations about the incapacity of the government to introduce an upgraded breed of the willow, which grows faster to the required girth, may lead to the demise of the industry sooner than expected.Abdul Hameed, who has been manufacturing bats for the last 35 years, at a factory in Hullmulla village, located on the highway in South Kashmir, said the industry may soon shut down.“This industry is in its last stages and will soon collapse,” Hameed said.

He said the biggest handicap of the industry is the willow itself, which takes decades to grow to the size required for making bats.“There are not many trees left and no one plants them anymore because the government has failed to introduce the English willow here. No one will keep his land in use for a plantation which takes 30 years to grow,” he said. At Gateway Sports Factory, where Hameed works, there are thousandsof bat clefts stacked and saw dust covers the ground. The factory manufactures 2,000-4,000 bats annually, depending on the market demand.

The “bat-hub”, comprising seven villages — Charsoo, Hallmulla, Bijbehara, Sangam, Sethar, Pujteng and Mirzapor in the South Kashmir — also faces another problem. The widening of the National Highway will displace 99 factories and the government seems to have no plans for their relocation.

“Some people associated with this industry are facing difficulties because of the road widening, let them come and meet me,” Minister of Industries S S Slathia told reporters while inaugurating a common facility centre for cricket bats. Ironically, a facility with boiler-based wood seasoning chambers — which speeds up the processing of bat clefts — has been constructed alongside the highway without any planning or consultation with the Roads and Buildings department.

Parts of the facility constructed at a cost of Rs 6 crore are also getting bulldozed on account of widening of the National Highway.“Road widening is about national interest, but we also have to see what steps should be taken to help those who will be displaced by the road widening. I ask the deputy commissioner to provide them proper compensation,” Slathia said.

He said they will be settled in a “cluster” at a single place.

The President of the Cricket Bat Manufacturers Association of Kashmir, Nazir Ahmad Salroo, seemed more pessimistic about the prospects of the industry. “Not even ten years,” he said, “The end of this industry will begin in the next two years.”

Salroo blamed the consecutive state governments for the decline in industry. “We had once submitted a proposal

for introduction of high breed willow and asked the government to provide us land for plantation, but it was never allotted,” he said. He said the government has also failed to notify the use of willow exclusively for bat manufacturing