Mohali: Days ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday carried out searches at 10 places in Ludhiana, Mohali and Pathankot districts in connection with an illegal sand mining case. Among the places searched was the Mohali residence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew. The ED is probing a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on an FIR registered in 2018 by the Punjab police against Kudrat Deep Singh, the main accused, who owns a quarry in Nawanshahr, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district.
It is learnt that Kudrat Deep Singh had formed two companies. The directors of the companies were Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Channi, and Sandeep Singh. The illegal sand mining case was initially registered by the Punjab police at Rahon police station of Nawanshahr on the complaint of the mining officer under section 21(1) and 4(1) of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation of Development) Act, 1957, and under section 379, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. There were 26 accused in the case, most of them are truck drivers.
According to the FIR, the police had stopped 30 tipper trucks filled with sand, most of which was taken from an area that was not marked for mining. Several types of machinery were also recovered, which were not to be used for mining at the site. After the police FIR, the ED had initiated its investigation in the case. In response, Channi said the searches were a “pressure tactic a repeat of what happened with Mamata Banerjee’s relatives during West Bengal elections”.
Congress leader and media coordinator of Punjab polls, Alka Lamba tweeted, “CBI, ED & IT raids become a tool of the BJP govt during the elections. In another tweet, she said Congress will not be afraid of the BJP’s polls gimmicks. “The BJP is shocked due to increasing popularity of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi. The People of Punjab will give them a befitting reply in the polls,” she added.