Farooq denies bribery allegations
October 6th, 2011 - 4:10 pm ICT by IANSSrinagar, Oct 6 (IANS) Breaking his silence over the custodial death of a worker of Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference (NC) over allegations of bribery, party patron Farooq Abdullah Thursday denied that he or his party were involved in graft and asked the people to await the outcome of the judicial probe into the incident.
“It is a political stunt by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Let them say what they say,” the union minister said after chairing a meeting at the NC party headquarters here.
Farooq Abdullah’s comments came Abdul Salam Rishi, a key witness of the events leading to the Sep 30 death of NC worker Sayeed Muhammad Yousuf, pulled his name into the bribery scandal.
He told a TV channel that Yousuf had accepted taking a bribe from another NC worker Muhammad Yusuf Bhat. Rishi also alleged that Yousuf had taken the money as a political bribe paid finally to the NC patron for getting Bhat a minister’s berth.
Distancing himself from the allegations, Farooq Abdullah said: “I am not a party to this and I have nothing to do with this.”
“Let us wait for the outcome of the judicial probe and the truth would be known. I promise you that the PDP will have to apologise for these allegations also like they apologised for their past allegations against us.”
The visibly emotional minister added: “The PDP wants the NC government to disappear. They had assured support to the Congress after the 2008 elections if the Congress agreed to keep the NC out of the government.”
The elder Abdullah also defended his son, state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, saying: “Omar on his own decided to have the matter probed by a judicial inquiry.”
He denied that the NC had ever taken money for giving positions to party candidates.
“The MLAs and MLCs are here, go ask them if anyone of them has ever paid money…”
The PDP has been demanding the chief minister’s resignation maintaining the judicial probe won’t be impartial as long as Omar Abdullah continues as chief minister.
Omar Abdullah has categorically stated he would not resign either as the chief minister or as the home minister of the state.
The state government has requested the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir high court to nominate a sitting judge to conduct the probe into the circumstances those led to the Yousuf’s death.
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- PDP influencing eye-witnesses: Omar - Oct 08, 2011
- National Conference worker died of heart failure: Forensic report (Lead) - Oct 13, 2011
- After summer of quiet, Omar in autumn of accusations (Comment) - Oct 06, 2011
- I did not pay money to either Abdullah: NC worker - Oct 07, 2011
- Hazare turning blind eye to corruption in Kashmir: Mehbooba - Oct 07, 2011
- PDP stages protest march in Srinagar, demands Omar quit - Oct 05, 2011
- Kashmir custodial death: Government rubbishes PDP charges - Oct 01, 2011
- Bribery case: Youth confesses to mimicking Farooq's voice - Nov 06, 2011
- Omar to serve defamation notice on Mehbooba Mufti - Oct 03, 2011
- Kashmir civilian death: National Conference activist records statement - Nov 01, 2011
- Commission begins probe into NC worker's death - Nov 29, 2011
- Yousuf's death has exposed rampant corruption in Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti (Interview) - Oct 09, 2011
- Panel allows dead man's kin to visit Omar's house - Mar 12, 2012
- National Conference worker's death rocks Kashmir assembly (Roundup) - Oct 03, 2011
Tags: 2008 elections, bhat, bribery allegations, bribery scandal, chairing a meeting, chief minister, custodial death, jammu and kashmir, judicial inquiry, judicial probe, key witness, mlas, muhammad yousuf, muhammad yusuf, nc government, party candidates, party headquarters, political stunt, state chief, union minister