Ahead of Punjab Assembly elections, ED arrests Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew in illegal sand mining case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Bhupinder Singh Honey, nephew of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining in the border state, officials said on Friday.They said Honey was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late at night after almost eight hours of questioning.Honey is the son of Channi's sister-in-law.On 18 January, the agency had raided his premises and claimed to have seized about Rs 8 crore cash.As per a News18 report, ED officials had then said that action had been initiated after taking cognisance of the 2018 FIR of the Nawanshahr Police and some other police complaints against companies and individuals alleged to be involved in illegal sand mining in the state.Following the raids, the Punjab chief minister had alleged that the BJP-led Centre had hatched a 'conspiracy' to 'trap him' ahead of the Punjab polls, which will be held on 20 February.Channi had at the time also alleged that the raids against his nephew was ‘revenge’ being extracted by the BJP for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s incident in Ferozepur wherein he returned without attending a scheduled event owing to a security lapse.In the past, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) supremo Capt Amarinder Singh had alleged that Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s name had come up in connection with illegal sand mining.“When I was going to Hoshiarpur one day, I saw trucks and diggers and asked the Ropar police to investigate. We found that several parties were involved and Channi’s name also figured along with one or two other persons,” the PLC leader was quoted as saying, dismissing the CM’s statements on the Enforcement Directorate’s raid on his nephew.Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will be contesting this year's Assembly polls from Sri Chamkaur Sahib Constituency and the Bhadaur (SC) seat in Barnala.Experts note that by fielding Channi from Bhadaur seat, the Congress is eyeing electoral gains in the politically significant Malwa region, which also has a good presence of Dalits in addition to their concentration in the Doaba area.With inputs from PTI