Punjab: PMLA court frames charges against Channi’s nephew in illegal mining case
Special PMLA judge Rupinderjit Chahal registered the case under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Jalandhar on Wednesday framed charges against former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh, alias Honey, and his aide Kudrat Deep Singh in an alleged illegal mining case.
Special PMLA judge Rupinderjit Chahal registered the case under sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed the chargesheet against Bhupinder and Kudrat on March 31 this year, and arrested the former on February 3 ahead of the Punjab assembly elections; he is currently out on the bail. The ED also questioned Channi in connection with the case in April.
In the chargesheet, the ED said that sand mining sites were allotted to Kudrat and that he and Bhupinder did the mining much more than the permitted limits, thereby generating huge illegal proceeds. The ED also conducted searches in January this year and recovered ₹10 crore in cash. According to the prosecution, this amount is from the proceeds of the crime.
As per the oral and documentary submissions of the department, Kudrat has also been found involved in money laundering. He participated in an e-auction conducted by the directorate of mining of Punjab in May 2017 and successfully bid as an ‘H1’ bidder for the Malikpur mining site in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar for ₹4 crore per annum.
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The ED said that mining activities were carried out at the Malikpur site using Poclain machines and other machineries, which was in violation of the conditions set by the state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA).
ED further said that Kudrat, in his statement recorded under section 50 of the PMLA, revealed that all the sales proceeds from Malikpur were received in cash and he kept the leftover cash after the expenditures.
The ED has registered an enforcement case information report in the case on the basis of an FIR registered by SBS Nagar district police for illegal mining under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and other relevant charges at the Rahon police station against Kudrat.