ED arrests CM Charanjit Channi's nephew in money laundering case ahead of Punjab polls

New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew, Bhupendra Singh Honey, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an illegal sand-mining case.

Honey had been summoned by the ED office yesterday. He was questioned on the matter and the recovery of Rs 8 crore cash and other valuables from his place in the raid about two weeks back. The questioning went on for hours and around midnight the ED sleuths got his medical examination conducted before keeping him in a lockup in its Jalandhar office the night through. He is likely to be produced before the ED's special PMLA court in Mohali.

They said Honey was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The arrest comes just days ahead of polling for the 117-member Punjab legislative assembly. Voting will be held on February 20, while the results will be out on March 10.

The ED had reportedly seized Rs 10 crore cash during raids conducted on January 19 in an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand mining operations in Punjab. The seizure reportedly included Rs 8 crore from the premises linked to Bhupinder Singh.

In a statement, the Enforcement Directorate had said "incriminating" documents related to the "illegal" sand mining and property transactions, mobile phones, gold worth more than ₹ 21 lakh, and a Rolex watch worth ₹ 12 lakh were also seized during the searches.

Reacting to the raids, Mr Channi had told reporters that relatives of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were raided during the assembly polls in that state and the "same pattern" is being followed by the ED in Punjab to "pressure" him, his ministers and Congress party members.

"We are ready to handle the pressure...," he said, adding, he had no links with the case.