ABID KHAN
Srinagar, Mar 7: Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Aslam Goni on Wednesday asked general  secretary Ahsan Mirza and chief administrative officer (CAO) Saleem Khan to resign in the wake of alleged shortfall in the accounts of JKCA.
 “Initially Mirza accepted shortfall in the accounts during his tenure as treasurer of the Association.  We asked him to resign and we have also asked present CAO and former general secretary Saleem Khan to resign as both were involved in the act,” Goni said.
 However, Mirza said he has resigned on moral grounds.
 “It is just internal politics and some vested interests are pitted against me and have cooked this up in order to damage my reputation. I resigned on moral grounds. I told them to probe the matter and till  the investigations are over I will step down,” he said.
 Goni insisted that he was deputed to Srinagar by JKCA President Dr Farooq Abdullah after the allegations of discrepancies in accounts surfaced.
 “It was present treasurer who pointed out the discrepancies in the accounts and informed Dr Abdullah. As he (Dr Abdullah) is not in the State and sensing the gravity of the situation he directed me to rush to JKCA headquarters,” Goni said.
 “Personally it has been a shock for me to hear that the person who is widely respected is involved and he himself has accepted that there is shortfall in accounts,” Goni added.
 Goni alleged that the accounts shortfall is to the tune of Rs 15 crore.
 “I can roughly estimate it to the tune of 15 crore. We have asked him (Mirza) to deposit Rs 1.5 crore till March 31,” Goni said.
 “I could have lodged an FIR but as the accused himself accepted. We preferred to wait for full report of enquiry. We have decided to hold finance committee meeting on March 19 and disciplinary committee meeting on March 20. Law would take its own course thereafter,” he added.
 Revealing that the accounts as per the JKCA constitution are handled by treasurer and general secretary, Goni  said: “This has happened during previous term and at that time Mirza was treasurer while Khan was general secretary.”
 “We are ascertaining from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) the details of the amount granted to JKCA during previous term. We have also asked current treasurer to check accounts and produce details of expenditure and reimbursements,” he said.
 “Wherever frauds or bungling took place, money has not been recovered. Our priority is to recover money as that is for welfare of players and JK cricket,” Goni said.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 8 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST