ED arrests nephew of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi in illegal mining case

ED officials said Honey was arrested late last night by a relative of state Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an alleged illegal sand mining case.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized more than 10 crores cash, gold worth over 21 lakhs and a Rolex watch 12 lakh from the residential premises of Bhupinder Singh Honey.

The Enforcement Directorate announced the recovery after two-day raids ended in commercial and residential premises of accused persons and their associates at over a dozen places in Mohali, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Pathankot.

The ED raids lasted from 7.30 am on Tuesday to late night and resumed in the early hours of Wednesday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The federal agency said it raided the premises of the accused persons and their associates, including Kudratdeep Singh, owner of Pinjore Royalty Company and his associates and shareholders KanwarMahip Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sunil Kumar Joshi, Jagveer Inder Singh.

Honey is the son of Channi’s sister-in-law. On January 18, their premises were raided by the agency and almost 8 crore cash.

The Punjab CM had earlier alleged that the recent raids at the house of his relative Bhupinder Singh Honey indicated that it was a ‘revenge’ for the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur in Punjab.

He said the central government was using the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and other agencies to implicate him.

“I have come to know that the ED said, ‘Don’t forget PM Modi’s visit to Ferozepur.’ This raid shows ‘revenge’. To implicate me, my nephew was questioned for 24 hours… the agency did not find any evidence against me.”

Meanwhile, assembly elections are to be held in Punjab on February 20.

*With inputs from agencies