New Delhi/Chandigarh, January 19
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has siezed around Rs 10 crore in cash, including Rs 8 crore from premises linked to a relative of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, during the raids conducted in an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand mining operations in the poll-bound border state, officials said on Wednesday.
The raids that were launched at a dozen locations in the state on Tuesday were completed early on Wednesday morning with the agency also seizing a number of documents and electronic devices.
About Rs 10 crore in cash had been seized during the operation that included about Rs 8 crore from the premises linked to Bhupinder Singh alias Honey, a nephew of Channi, sources said.
Another Rs 2 crore had been seized from the premises linked to one Sandeep Kumar, they said.
The federal probe agency, according to sources, is expected to soon summon people covered during the searches for a fresh and detailed round of questioning.
Preliminary questioning of those covered in the raids was done over the past 24 hours, they said.
In all, a dozen locations in the state, including in Chandigarh, Mohali, Ludhiana and Pathankot, were covered by the officials of the federal agency.
The raids were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Reacting to the raids, Channi had told reporters on Tuesday that relatives of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were raided during the assembly polls in that state and the “same pattern” is being followed by the ED in Punjab to “pressure” him, his ministers and Congress party members.
“We are ready to handle the pressure…,” he said, adding that he had no links with the case.
In Punjab mining raids, ED seizes Rs 10 crore in cash, including from CM's relative
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