Ex-India cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday about a money laundering case with the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA).
Azharuddin, who was earlier the president of HCA, is alleged to have misused the funds in his stint. It's the first time that he has been summoned and has been told to appear before the ED on Thursday.
The case is about misappropriating funds of about Rs 20 crore for buying diesel generators, firefighting systems, and canopies for the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium.
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The money laundering case came from the four criminal cases that the Hyderabad police filed in October last year. Azharuddin along with other officials is facing charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and conspiracy under different sections of the IPC.
The HCA got a forensic audit which revealed that the funds were misused and were diverted to private agencies from March 2020 to February 2023. Based on these details, Suneel Kante Bose, who is the CEO of HCA complained.
Azharuddin dismissed these claims and reckoned that these were politically motivated and said, "This is just a stunt pulled by my rivals to ruin my reputation."
In November last year, the Hyderabad court gave him anticipatory bail in three of the four cases.