Arun Sharma
Ropar, February 11
The district administration and the police have given a clean chit to Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi overthe allegations of illegal mining in his Chamkaur Sahib Assembly constituency.
Governor Banwari Lal Purohit had asked the DGP to probe the matter after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state co-incharge Raghav Chadha had on January 24 submitted a memorandum to him, demanding an inquiry into Channi’s alleged role in illegal mining at Jindapur village near Chamkaur Sahib.
In a report submitted to the ADGP-cum-Enforcement Director, Mining, Ropar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sonali Giri has said neither illegal mining was done at Jindapur village nor any complaint/report was found in the records of the administration.
The authorities were supposed to probe four issues, including illegal mining on government forest land, transfer of a forest officer and role of CM’s relatives.
The allegations of CM patronising illegal mining were levelled by the AAP on December 4 after Range Forest Officer Rajwant Singh wrote a letter to the Chamkaur Sahib SHO on November 18, 2021, alleging that Iqbal Singh, a resident of Shalapur village, and some unidentified people, using Poclain machines, were lifting sand from government forest land near the Sutlej. The officer also claimed that 530 saplings were also damaged due to the illegal mining.
Writing a similar letter to the Chamkaur Sahib SDM on November 22, Rajwant said the police didn’t take any action in the case. Though no action was taken on the complaint, a few days later Rajwant was transferred from Chamkaur Sahib.
On December 4, Chadha along with AAP workers reached riverbed near Jindapur village and alleged that illegal mining was rampant in the area under the CM’s patronage.
The name of Channi was again dragged when the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids against his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey in an illegal mining case on January 18 and recovered Rs 10 crore.
On January 22, SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia during a press conference presented pictures of Channi at the home of Iqbal Singh, a suspect in illegal mining at Jindapur.
According to the report, forest guard Daljit Singh informed the inquiry committee that Iqbal Singh was not present on the mining spot and Rajwant named him because the machine driver had mentioned his name.
The report also claimed that the Forest Department was not sure whether the land in question belonged to the government. The DC also said Rajwant’s transfer was done on his request on medical grounds.
Judicial remand for nephew honey
Jalandhar: The court of District and Sessions Judge Rupinderjit Chahal on Friday sent Bhupinder Honey, CM Charanjit Channi’s nephew, to a 14-day judicial remand in the alleged violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Honey, who was summoned by the ED last week and was arrested thereafter, has remained in custody for seven days. tns
ILLEGAL MINING: Ropar administration's clean chit to Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi
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