Punjab polls: ED arrests CM Channi’s nephew in sand mining case

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 04, 2022: The Enforcement Directorate arrested Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew, Bhupinder Singh Honey, under money laundering charges, in the illegal sand mining case late on Thursday.Honey was placed under arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the ED officials in Punjab after nearly eight hours of questioning.

 

Last month, the ED had carried out searches at the residence of Honey and others in Punjab’s Mohali, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Pathankot.

Over Rs 10 crore in cash along with alleged incriminating documents related to sand mining business, property transactions, mobile phones, gold worth Rs 21 lakh and a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh were found and seized after the searches by the ED officials.

Sources say, out of Rs 10 crore, Rs 7.9 crore was seized from the premises linked to Bhupinder Singh Honey whereas Rs 2 crore was seized from another suspect Sandeep Singh’s house.Investigations by the Enforcement Directorate revealed that Bhupinder Singh, Kudratdeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar are directors of Providers Overseas Services Private Limited. All three are being investigated for money laundering charges around an illegal sand mining racket. It is being suspected that shell companies were being used to launder money and carry out illegal sand mining.

The company was set up in October 2018. Six months later, an FIR was filed in the illegal sand mining case against Kudratdeep Singh. The ED suspects that black money was invested in getting contracts for the sand mine. The company floated, sources say, is of very small scale and unlikely to get a contract worth crores.

Along with the trio, Pinjore Royalty Company, its partners — Kanwarmahip Singh and Manpreet Singh — Sunil Kumar Joshi, Jagveer Inder Singh, Randeep Singh, and Sandeep Kumar are being probed by the financial probe agency for their alleged role in the illegal sand mining case.

ED had initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Punjab Police in 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and violation of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation of Development) Act.

On March 7, 2018, a team comprising of officials of the Mining Department, civil administration and police department made a surprise check on the basis of a complaint received at Punjab’s SBS Nagar Police Station regarding illegal sand mining.

The team found that several mines were being excavated by various machines and mining was being carried out beyond the designated area. Accordingly, several tippers-trucks, porcelain machines and JCB machines were captured and seized by the investigating team. The seized tipper-trucks were also found to be overloaded with sand. The seized weighment slips having office stamps were allegedly not issued by the concerned office and were forged.

Subsequently, the mining operation at the Malikpur site was stopped and also the approval of weighment slips was scrapped by the team. As per the FIR, apart from Punjab’s Malikpur, illegal mining activities were also carried out at Burjtahl Das, Barsal, Lalewal, Mandala and Khosa.

Honey will be produced before the court today (Friday) to seek custody in this case.

In the past, the Opposition parties in Punjab have accused the state government of aiding people involved in illegal sand mining. In December 2021, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had alleged that illegal sand mining was thriving in Chamkaur Sahib, CM Channi’s own constituency.

The Punjab Chief Minister, however, had alleged that the ED is working at the behest of the BJP, an allegation denied by the agency.

Courtesy:India Today