New Delhi/Chandigarh, Feb 4 (IANS) A court in Punjab's Jalandhar city on Friday sent Bhupinder Singh Honey, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till February 8 in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to illegal mining in Punjab.
The ED on late Thursday arrested him after over eight hours of questioning. He was summoned for the second time.
Honey was earlier summoned by the ED to join the investigation on January 23, but he skipped the first summon on health issues and did not join the investigation.
He informed the ED officials that he was Covid-19 positive and was unable to join the probe.
On January 18, the ED had conducted raids at 10 locations, including Homeland Heights which is the residence of Honey.
The ED continued raiding at different places for two days and recovered incriminating documents.
Honey was asked to appear before the ED's zonal office in Jalandhar. He had to record his statement in connection with the ongoing probe.
The ED officials had recorded the statement of Kudrat Deep Singh, the business partner of Honey.
The ED official had said that they seized incriminating documents pertaining to illegal sand mining, property transactions, cell phones, gold worth above Rs 21 lakh and a watch worth Rs 12 lakh and cash Rs 10 crore during the raid.
A source said that the documents recovered by them have confirmed that Kudrat Deep Singh was running two firms and Bhupinder Singh Honey was a joint director in them.
As per sources, the firms are basically shell companies, but ED has found a lot of money transactions. One of the firms is Provider Overseas Consultancy Limited, which was incorporated in 2018 with 33.33 per cent equal shares.
The ED case is on the basis of a two-year old first information report (FIR). Punjab Police had on March 7, 2018, lodged a case against more than 10 accused.
The ED initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of this FIR pertaining to illegal sand mining in Punjab in November last year.
The FIR has been accessed by IANS which was filed under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Bhupinder Singh Honey was not named in the Punjab Police's FIR and Kudrat Deep Singh was given a clean chit in the matter.
The ED found that money was being laundered by the accused involved in the case and they started probing the matter.
Manish Tewari said in a tweet ,"MHA Notification enhancing operational mandate of BSF, 15 to 50 KM's in Punjab, West Bengal & Assam transgresses upon Constitutional Public order & Policing remit of States Half of Punjab will now fall under BSF jurisdiction @CHARANJITCHANNI must oppose it ".
In a statement, Randhawa, who also holds the Home portfolio, said "this illogical decision was absolutely against the spirit of the raising the border guarding forces, which were required to focus on the international border and act as the first line of defence".
The world's largest vaccination drive against Covid-19 is being conducted in India, "and it will be a special occasion to celebrate when we complete administering 100 crore doses of vaccines", said the source.
Bhartiya Kisan Union Tikait district vice president Balkar Singh had already made it clear that, "No political leader will be allowed to share the stage where only Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders will be present."
The incident took place on Tuesday during a demonstration by the BJP in front of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's official residence over the Delhi Disaster Management Authority's (DDMA) order restricting celebration of Chhath Puja in the national capital.
The minister and his son are accused in the October 3 incident in which nine persons, including four farmers, were mowed down by SUVs. The minister's son Ashish Mishra has already been arrested.
