New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday termed the arrest of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey as "political" and said it is being done "to create pressure". "It is a political arrest and it is being done to create pressure. If action had to be taken against someone, it should have been done over four-five months, not in one single day. It is being done purposely. Channi is a Scheduled Caste CM, they want to hassle and demoralise him," Kharge told ANI.
Honey is the son of Channi's sister-in-law. On January 18, the agency had raided his premises and claimed to have seized about Rs 8 crore cash and "incriminating" documents. Property belonging to a few others were also raided. The development comes days before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to announce the party's chief ministerial candidate in the poll-bound state. Gandhi is expected to make this announcement during his virtual rally in Ludhiana on Sunday and Channi is stated to be the front runner.
Punjab will go to polls on February 20. After the raids last months, ED sources had claimed that the agency had recovered over Rs 10 crore in cash and several documents, of which Rs 8 crore and most of the papers were seized from premises linked to Honey alone. About Rs 2 crore cash was seized from the premises linked to a person identified as Sandeep Kumar.
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