Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Wednesday attempts were being made to frame him through raids by the Enforcement Directorate because of the fiasco during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent failed trip to the poll-bound state.
Accusing the BJP-led Centre to frame him through his nephew Bhupinder Singh ‘Honey’, the chief minister said, “My nephew has been tortured to take my name. They kept the courts open till 6am.”
Calling it a planted exercise, Channi said his nephew was not even named in the 2018 case on which the ED’s latest action is based. “They are taking revenge because I stood with Punjab and people of Punjab during the Prime Minister’s visit to Ferozepur. This is vindictive,” he said at a press conference. “They are harassing our people and want to spoil our election,” he said.
“This is a conspiracy to suppress us. So many of our people and ministers are under pressure,” he said, while questioning the timing of the ED action.
He said SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia against whom a case had been registered under the NDPS Act and former chief minister Amarinder Singh were behind the latest ED raids.
{{/usCountry}}He said SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia against whom a case had been registered under the NDPS Act and former chief minister Amarinder Singh were behind the latest ED raids.
{{/usCountry}}ED officials have said around ₹10 crore in cash, including ₹8 crore from premises linked to Channi's nephew, have been seized during the raids conducted in an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand mining operations in the poll-bound border state.