Punjab CM Channi's nephew sent to 14-day judicial custody in illegal sand mining case

A Jalandhar court on Friday sent Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, to judicial custody for money laundering charges related to an illegal sand mining case in Punjab. Rs 8 crore in cash, Rs 25 lakh worth of gold and an expensive watch were found from the whereabouts of Singh earlier during the investigation.

Jalandhar:Facing charges of money laundering related to an illegal sand mining case, Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was on Friday sent for 14-day judicial custody by a Jalandhar court.

He was presented before court after his ED custody expired on Friday. The period of custody was originally set to be February 8 but was extended till February 11.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had recovered Rs 8 crore in cash, Rs 25 lakh worth of gold, and an expensive watch from the whereabouts of Singh.

"Moreover, Bhupinder Singh Honey has explicitly stated in his statement during search, inter-alia, that all cash which was seized from his residential premises at Ludhiana (Rs 4.09 crore), Sandeep Kumar's premises at Ludhiana (Rs 1.99 crore) and from the Homeland House Premises at Mohali (Rs 3.89 crore) actually pertained to him. He admitted to having generated such proceeds of crime through mining-related activities including clearance of mining files and transfer of officials," says an ED document related to the investigation.

After a late-night interrogation at the ED office in Jalandhar on the intervening night between February 3 and 4, Honey was arrested in the case and given medical treatment.

The case filed by the Directorate is based upon an FIR filed on March 7, 2018 by the Punjab Police under sections 21(1), 4(1) of mines and mineral act with sections 379, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of IPC. Kudrat Deep Singh, Bhupinder Singh Honey's business partner, was named - alongside other people - on the document which dealt with illegal sand mining in Punjab and later on got a clean chit in the case.

The money laundering probe, which followed the paper trail and finally got hold of Honey, was issued on the basis of the FIR.