The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, 13 April, questioned former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Charanjit Singh Channi for several hours in a 2018 case related to illegal sand mining.
ED officials confirmed on Thursday morning, 14 April, that they had questioned Channi on Wednesday and may summon him again.
"Ex-Punjab CM Channi was questioned by ED for over 5 hours, yesterday in connection with an alleged illegal sand mining case. He was questioned in connection with his relationship with his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey, who was arrested by the agency," ED officials said.
Meanwhile, Channi confirmed the same on his official Twitter account.
"I attended and replied to the queries put by them to the best of my knowledge. A Challan in this case has already been presented by ED in the Hon’ble court .The authorities have not asked me to come again."
The federal agency had conducted raids against Channi's nephew, Bhupinder Singh alias Honey, and others in the same case in nearly ten places on 18 January, as the state was preparing for the Assembly elections.
Following this, Bhupinder Singh was arrested on the intervening night of 3-4 February. On 31 March, the ED filed a charge sheet against Bhupinder Singh.
'My Fight was for Punjab and Not for Sand': Tweets Sidhu
After Channi appeared before the ED, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu took to social media and said:
"My fight was for Punjab and not for sand … Those who ran the land, sand and liquor mafia let down Punjab for selfish vested interests by looting the exchequer…. It is either Punjab or the Mafia in the present financial scenario! The fight continues…"
During the raid, the ED had Indian currency worth more than Rs 10 crores allegedly belonging to Honey, several "incriminating documents related to the sand mining business, property transaction papers, mobile phones, gold worth above Rs 21 lakh and a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh", reported The Indian Express. Sources in ED said that Rs 10 crore seized from Honey might belong to Channi.
The charge sheet filed in the court of Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) judge Rupinderjit Chahal in Punjab mentioned another person, Kudratdeep Singh, beside Channi's nephew, under money laundering charges.
ED's Raids Based on 2018 FIR Over Illegal Mining
The ED officials launched a money-laundering investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) with allegations against Bhupinder Singh of 'mining beyond the designated area'.
The FIR was registered in March 2018, which mentioned that a team of the Mining Department, Civil Administration, and Police Department conducted a surprise inspection on the basis of a complaint lodged at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Police station.
The complaint was lodged alleging illegal sand mining operations being carried out at Malikpur, Burjtahl Das, Barsal, Lalewal, Mandala, and Khosa sand mines.
On 7 March 2018, when a surprise inspection was done, it was found that mining was being done by various machines and carried out beyond the allocated mining area.
The inspecting team also captured and seized many tippers, trucks, Porcelain machines and JCB machines from the spot.
"The seized tipper and trucks were also found to be overloaded with sand. The seized weighment slips having office stamps had actually not been issued by the concerned office and were forged," the ED said.
Following the inspection, mining operations at the Malikpur mining site and the approval of weighment slips were stopped.
Suspicion of Black Money Used To Acquire Mining Contracts
On the basis of the available information, ED had initiated an enquiry against all the mining owners and their associates accused of illegal sand mining.
The agency suspects the involvement of black money investments to acquire sand mining contracts. The company is believed to be of a very small scale, thus making it unlikely for it to acquire contracts worth crores of rupees.
Punjab Police had already booked Kudratdeep Singh of Ludhiana and 25 others in the FIR registered in March 2018. After Kudratdeep Singh was questioned by the ED, it was revealed that Honey was the main facilitator in the case.
(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express.)
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