Punjab CM Channi's nephew sent to ED custody till Feb 8

A Jullundar Court on Friday sent  Bhupinder Singh alias Honey to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till February 8. The ED on Thursday arrested Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew, Bhupinder Singh Honey, under money laundering charges, in the illegal sand mining case. Rs 7.9 crore was seized from Bhupinder’s place and Rs 2 crore was seized from his associate Sandeep Kumar’s premises. Investigations  revealed that Bhupinder Singh, Kudratdeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar are directors of Providers Overseas Services Private Limited. This company was set up in October 2018. Six months later, an FIR was filed in the illegal sand mining case against Kudratdeep Singh. The ED suspects that black money was invested in getting contracts for the sand mine.

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 Rs 21 lakh, and a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh were also seized during the searches.The arrest comes just days ahead of polling for the 117-member Punjab legislative assembly. Voting will be held on February 20, In the past, the Opposition parties in Punjab have accused the state government of aiding people involved in illegal sand mining.