CM Channi's Nephew Honey Arrested In Illegal Mining: ED

CM Channi has no objection to the law doing its work

New Delhi: Ahead of the Punjab Polls, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew, Bhupendra Singh Honey, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an illegal sand-mining case.

The probe agency took Honey into custody yesterday evening and will produce him in a CBI court today.

According to the agency, Honey was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late at night.

An official tweet by the news agency ANI shows CM Channi's nephew got arrested by the ED. "#WATCH | Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Jalandhar on Thursday evening following day-long questioning in an illegal sand mining case: Sources."

The arrest comes just days before the Assembly elections of the state. The polling for the 117-member Punjab legislative assembly. Voting will be held on February 20, while the results will be out on March 10.

After the arrest, Punjab Chief Minister said that he has no objections to the law doing its work.

Last month, ED had seized Rs 8 crores during a raid at premises belonging to Honey. The raids were made in connection with the illegal sand-mining operations in Punjab.

In a statement, the Enforcement Directorate had said "incriminating" documents related to the "illegal" sand mining and property transactions, mobile phones, gold worth more than Rs 21 lakh, and a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh were also seized during the searches.

Responding to the raids, CM Channi had told reporters 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.