Punjab: ED grills ex CM Channi in sand mining PMLA case
Earlier this month, a charge sheet was filed against Channi and others named in the case, while his nephew Bhupinder Singh was arrested
New Delhi: Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was quizzed by the central agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) for over six hours in money laundering probe in relation to an alleged sand mining case.
The 59-year-old Congress leader’s statement was recorded by the investigation agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Channi was only able to left the Enforcement Directorate’s Jalandhar office late on Wednesday night.
Earlier this month, a charge sheet was filed against Channi and others named in the case, while his nephew Bhupinder Singh aka Honey was arrested by the federal agency days before the Punjab assembly polls in February 2022.
If sources are to be believed, ED grilled Channi about his alleged links with Bhupinder Singh and others, including some questions regarding Singh’s several visits to the Chief Minister’s office. Earlier, Channi had skipped several summonses by the agency.
“He was also questioned about the allegations of certain transfer and posting of officials in the state as part of the illegal sand mining operations”, the sources said.
Channi had resigned from his designation of Punjab CM after the newbie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) clean swift the state assembly polls on March 10. He also lost from both the constituencies he fought from in the state polls 2022 – Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur.
The Enforcement Directorate had commenced its investigation on January 18, when it conducted multiple raids at several locations of Bhupinder Singh and others, seizing around Rs 7.9 crore cash from his residence, and about Rs 2 crore cash from another person known as Sandeep Kumar.
ED had claimed in a statement that it had recorded the statements of Bhupinder Singh (Honey) and his father Santokh Singh, along with Sandeep Kumar during the searches, and it was ‘established’ that the seized Rs 10 crore ‘belonged to Bhupinder Singh s/o Santokh Singh’.
“Further, Bhupinder Singh accepted that he received the seized cash in lieu of facilitation in sand mining operations and transfer/postings of officials,” the agency added.