Around Rs 8 crore out of Rs 10 crore seized by the Enforcement Directorate during its raids in a money laundering probe connected with illegal sand mining in Punjab were recovered from the premises linked to a nephew of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, officials said on Wednesday.
The ED on Tuesday conducted raids at around a dozen premises in Chandigarh, Mohali, Ludhiana and Pathankot, including those of Bhupinder Singh Honey who is Channi's nephew. The raids had triggered a political war with the Congress accusing the BJP of targeting the "only Dalit Chief Minister in the country" in a five-year-old case in which he has no involvement.
The remaining Rs 2 crore were seized allegedly from the premises of one Sandeep Kumar, they said, adding the ED is likely to soon summon people who were raised for recording their statement.
The ED raids came after taking cognizance of a 2018 FIR filed by Punjab Police against companies and people linked to illegal sand mining. Truck drivers and other operatives allegedly involved in extraction and transportation of sand were named as accused in the FIR. The ED registered the case last November.
Officials said Honey's links with one Kudratdeep Singh, who is allegedly involved in the case, are being investigated by the agency. They claimed that Singh and Honey are partners in business. Both Channi and Honey had earlier denied any wrongdoing.
According to officials, the sand mining was carried out in areas which were not notified for the purpose. The mafia involved in illegal sand mining was laundering the money earned from the crime into own and benami accounts.
On Tuesday, Channi described the raids as an attempt to put pressure and target him and his ministers. "When there were polls in West Bengal, such attacks took place on Mamata Banerjee's relatives. Now, in the same pattern in Punjab, ED is trying to put pressure on, giving trouble," he had said.
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