Punjab CM Channi’s nephew arrested in sand mining case
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Bhupendra Singh Honey, on charges of money laundering in an illegal sand mining case. The arrest was made under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Honey, who was taken into custody on Thursday after a day of questioning, will be produced before a CBI court on Friday (February 4), reports said.
#WATCH | Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Jalandhar on Thursday evening following day-long questioning in an illegal sand mining case: Sources pic.twitter.com/6ciwmY1mhX
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2022
The arrest comes ahead of the crucial Assembly polls of Punjab slated for February 20.
The ED last month had conducted raids at the residence of Honey and others in the case in locations including Mohali, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Pathankot.
Cash worth ₹10 crore, “incriminating” documents related to sand mining, documents of property transactions, mobile phones, gold worth ₹21 lakh and a Rolex watch worth ₹12 lakh were seized during the raids. Of this around ₹7.9 crore was seized from premises owned by Honey.
Honey, Kudratdeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar – all directors of Providers Overseas Services Private Limited – are suspected to have used shell companies to launder money and carry out illegal sand mining.
The case dates back to 2018 when an FIR was filed at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Police Station against alleged sand mining at a site in Malikpur. The FIR said that a team of officials from the mining department, civil administration and police during a surprise visit to the site on March 7, 2018 found several mines being excavated by various machines and mining being carried out beyond the demarcated area. The mining operation was immediately stopped at the Malikpur site. The FIR also said that apart from Malikpur, similar mining activities were seen in Burjtahl Das, Barsal, Lalewal, Mandala and Khosa.
