Punjab: ED files chargesheet against ex-CM Channi’s nephew in illegal sand mining case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a charge sheet against Punjab former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew, Bhupinder Singh, alias Honey, and his aide, Kudratdeep Singh, alias Lovie, in the illegal sand mining case under money laundering charges at the special PMLA court in Jalandhar. Bhupinder Singh Honey was last month sent to 14-day judicial custody after he was produced in the Jalandhar Court by the ED. 

As per the ED, Honey was confronted with seized documents that indicated that he had made large sums of money through illegal sand mining through his contacts with senior officials in the state government.

Punjab CM Charanjit Channi's nephew admits to receiving Rs 10 crore

He had admitted to receiving Rs 10 crore cash for facilitating sand mining operations and transfer or posting of officials in the state, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had revealed in a statement. Also, the agency also asserted that had recorded the statements of Kudratdeep Singh, Bhupinder Singh (Honey), Honey’s father Santokh Singh and Sandeep Kumar during the searches. It was later 'established' that the seized Rs 10 crore “belonged to Bhupinder Singh".

Furthermore, the Punjab CM's nephew admitted to having received the seized cash in lieu of facilitation in sand mining operations and transfer/postings of officials, the ED claimed. Honey had admitted the above-mentioned after day-long questioning in a multicrore illegal sand mining case. Bhupinder Singh Honey was sent to the custody of the ED till February 8.

Illegal sand mining and money-laundering case 

The money laundering case was filed by the central agency in 2021 which was based on the 2018 FIR that had pressed charges under various sections of the IPC, including the Mines and Minerals (Regulation of Development) Act, 1957 to probe allegations of illegal sand mining. The ED officials revealed that Rs 8 crore was recovered from premises linked to Honey in Mohali and Ludhiana and Rs 2 crore from his accomplice Sandeep. The raids were conducted at 10 locations in Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Pathankot, among others.

However, CM Channi, at that time had dismissed the allegations against his relative as a political vendetta ahead of the Punjab election that was scheduled on February 20.