Enforcement Directorate raids premises of Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew, ahead of Punjab polls

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided multiple locations in poll-bound Punjab as part of a money laundering probe against companies involved in illegal sand mining in the border state, officials said.

They said at least 10-12 locations in the state are being covered by the officials of the federal agency and the action is being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

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According to PTI, the probe agency also carried out searches at the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey in Mohali early this morning.

The raids come ahead of the Assembly elections in the state which are scheduled to be held on February 20. The results will be announced on March 10.

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The news agency reported that the Congress and other Opposition parties have repeatedly accused the BJP-led Centre of misusing central probe agencies like ED, and CBI to intimidate and suppress the voice of its opponents.

Earlier, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had alleged that all Congress MLAs in the state were engaged in the illegal trade of sand.

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Singh, who quit the Congress party after stepping down as CM of the state in September last year, had said that he had informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi about legislators involved in the trade.