Former Indian cricket captain and one-time Congress MP Mohammad Azharuddin on Thursday skipped an Enforcement Directorate summons in a money-laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities at the Hyderabad Cricket Association, agency
sources said.

“He failed to appear before the agency today and (later) sought more time. We have issued a fresh summons and asked him to appear on October 8,” an ED official said.

Azharuddin, working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, had been asked to depose under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at the ED’s Delhi office on Thursday, the official said.

“His role during his tenure as HCA president is under the scanner,” he added.

Sources said the ED had last November raided the premises of several former HCA office-bearers including the cricket body’s former vice-president and Test cricketer Shivlal Yadav, former secretary and Test cricketer Arshad Ayub, and Congress MLA and former HCA president Gaddam Vinod.

The money-laundering case stems from three FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Telangana anti-corruption bureau alleging the criminal misappropriation of ₹20 crore worth of HCA funds.

“The chargesheets contain allegations of serious irregularities in the procurement of DG (diesel generator) sets, fire-fighting systems, and canopies for the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad,” the agency official said.

According to the ED, the accused former HCA office-bearers had, in collusion with private parties, “arbitrarily” got contracts allotted to preferred vendors at higher-than-market rates without following proper tender processes and, in many instances, even before the receipt of quotations. Advance payments were made to many contractors but no work was done by them, the ED has alleged.

The agency says its raids last year had led to the seizure of digital devices, documents and ₹10.39 lakh in “unaccounted” cash.