Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week concluded its raids on Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh and nine others, including six mining contractors, in the illegal sand mining case with the seizure of £1 million.
The ED raided 10 locations in poll-bound Punjab, including those linked to the CM’s nephew, in connection with probes into illegal sand mining in the state. The ED officials, accompanied by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, conducted searches at locations in Chandigarh, Rupnagar, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Mohali. An apartment belonging to Bhupinder was raided in Mohali. The ED is probing the source of unaccounted cash recovered from Bhupinder and his friend Sandeep.
The agency’s probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is based on a 2018 case registered by Punjab Police for illegal sand mining in the border state. The central agency had lodged an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report), an FIR, at its zonal office in Jalandhar in November last year after taking over the probe.
ED officials said Kudrat Deep Singh, one of the main accused, had set up a firm, Provider Consultancy Services Private Limited. The three directors of the firm are Kudrat Deep, Sandeep and Bhupinder. The ED has been probing money-laundering charges against them as it suspects the proceeds of crime from the illegal sand mining has been further transferred.
Following the probe against Kudrat Deep, the ED investigated the role of six contractors for illegal sand mining. Besides, it searched the premises of miner Sunil Joshi in Pathankot, Jagbir Inder Singh in Rupnagar and Randeep Singh in Fatehgarh Sahib, while the properties of Sandeep and Bhupinder were searched in Ludhiana, too. According to the FIR, there are 26 accused, including Kudrat Deep. Most of them are truck drivers.
