The arrest comes just days ahead of polling which will be held on 20 February, while the results will be out on 10 March
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi with his nephew. ANI
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Bhupinder Singh Honey, nephew of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining in the border state, officials said on Friday.
They said Honey was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late at night after almost eight hours of questioning.
Honey is the son of Channi’s sister-in-law.
On 18 January, the agency had raided his premises and claimed to have seized about Rs 8 crore cash.
As per a News18 report, ED officials had then said that action had been initiated after taking cognisance of the 2018 FIR of the Nawanshahr Police and some other police complaints against companies and individuals alleged to be involved in illegal sand mining in the state.
Following the raids, the Punjab chief minister had alleged that the BJP-led Centre had hatched a ‘conspiracy’ to ‘trap him’ ahead of the Punjab polls, which will be held on 20 February.
Channi had at the time also alleged that the raids against his nephew was ‘revenge’ being extracted by the BJP for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s incident in Ferozepur wherein he returned without attending a scheduled event owing to a security lapse.