Nearly five months after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the multi-crore illegal sand mining case in February this year, Punjab Police on Monday booked former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey, and his aide Kudratdeep Singh alias Lovie for conducting illegal mining in Nawanshahr’s Malikpur area.
After registering the FIR for carrying out illegal mining in the area of Malikpur mining site in 2017, the Police have also sent notice to Bhupinder alias Honey to join the investigations in this case; while Kudratdeep, who is currently lodged in Kapurthala Jail, will be brought on production warrant on Tuesday.
At the end of 2021, the Directorate of Enforcement, Jalandhar, conducted searches at the premises of Bhupinder Singh alias Honey and Kudratdeep Singh alias Lovie. The ED had then recovered various incriminating documents, digital devices, and cash to the tune of Rs 9.97 crores relatable to the proceeds of crime generated by way of illegal sand mining activities at the Malikpur sand mining site.
Punjab police’s official spokesperson said that after thorough investigation, an SIT found that both the accused had conducted illegal mining in that area using heavy machinery resulting in violating the provisions of Environment Clearance issued by State Level Environment Authority Punjab, said the spokesperson, adding that the accused persons also used fake 73 weightment slips (dated November 10, 2017), recovered by the ED during the searches.
Spokesperson said that following all the investigations, SIT recommended lodging an FIR both.