Rs 10 crore received from Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh: ED

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh received Rs 10 crore in cash in exchange for aiding illegal sand mining and the transfer-posting of certain officials. Bhupinder was detained on February 4th, and the agency claimed to have seized Rs 10 crore in cash during the searches that led up to his arrest.

On Monday the ED said in a statement, “During the course of search operation, statements of Kudratdeep Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Santokh Singh (father of Bhupinder Singh) and Sandeep Kumar were recorded, establishing that the seized Rs. 10 Crore belonged to Bhupinder Singh S/o Santokh Singh. Further, Bhupinder Singh accepted that he received the seized cash in lieu of facilitation in sand mining operations and transfer/postings of officials.”

On January 18, the ED conducted searches at numerous locations, including Kudratdeep Singh's office and home, as well as the offices and homes of other directors of M/s Providers Overseas Consultants Pvt. Ltd, a company that the ED claims is involved in illicit sand mining. One of the company's directors, along with one Sandeep Kumar, is Bhupinder.

Following the searches, Bhupinder was served with a summons on February 3 along with the necessary paperwork. “In response, he appeared and tendered his statement, wherein he, inter-alia, stated that he is involved in the mining related activities, but took an evasive approach when confronted with incriminating data,” According to the ED statement, he was apprehended after this.

The ED's custody of Bhupinder is slated to expire on Tuesday.

The unlawful sand mining case in which his nephew was imprisoned, according to Channi, was being unnecessarily linked to him. “The matter is now in the court. We will accept whatever the court decides. But it is unnecessarily being linked to me,” at the time of Bhupinder’s arrest, Channi said.

The ED case is predicated on a FIR filed at the Rohan Police Station in Punjab's SBS Nagar. According to the FIR, on March 7, 2018, a team comprised of employees from the mining department, civil administration, and the police department conducted a surprise check in response to a report about unlawful sand mining. As a result, the ED claims that many mines were being excavated by various types of machinery and that mining was taking on outside of the designated area.

ED said in a statement, “Accordingly, several tippers/trucks, Porcelain machines, JCB Machines etc. were captured and seized by the investigating team. The seized tipper/trucks were also found to be overloaded with sand. The seized weighment slips having office stamps had not been issued by the concerned office and were forged. Subsequently, the mining operation at Malikpur mining site (belonging to Kudratdeep Singh) and the approval of weighment Slips were stopped by the team. As per the FIR, apart from Malikpur, illegal mining activities were also carried out at Burjtahl Das, Barsal, Lalewal, Mandala and Khosa.”

According to financial records obtained by The Indian Express for the fiscal year 2019-20, the Providers Overseas Consultants' overall revenue from operations was roughly Rs 18.38 lakh, with a total loss of Rs 4.74 lakh after expenses. Kudratdeep Singh, Honey, and Sandeep Kumar are the three directors of the firm, which specializes in education and immigration advice. They each own 33.33 percent of the company's stock.

The ED filed a money laundering case in November 2018 after taking cognizance of the Punjab Police. The FIR of 2018 pressed charges under several sections of the IPC and the Mines and Minerals (Regulation of Development) Act, 1957 to investigate claims of illicit sand mining.

According to ED officers, Rs 8 crore was recovered from Honey's properties in Mohali and Ludhiana, and Rs 2 crore was recovered from his accomplice Sandeep. The raids took place in ten different places, including Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Pathankot. CM Channi, on the other hand, has dismissed the claims against his cousin as a political vengeance ahead of the February 20 Punjab poll.

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