Ahead of Punjab election 2022, CM Charanjit Channi's nephew arrested by ED

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupendra Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.The arrest of Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey comes weeks after the Enforcement Directorate raided his homes and offices in connection with a 2018 illegal sand mining case.The ED had reportedly seized Rs 10 crore cash during raids conducted on January 19 in an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand mining operations in Punjab.

The seizure reportedly included Rs 8 crore from the premises linked to Bhupinder Singh.After the raids, Channi had accused the BJP-led central government of hatching a “conspiracy” to “trap” him in the case ahead of Punjab elections 2022. The CM had also hit out at the BJP for trying to exact “revenge” over the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi without attending a scheduled event and addressing a rally during his visit to Ferozepur earlier in January.Channi had dubbed the ED raids as “vendetta politics” and had claimed that his nephew was not even booked in the case.