Punjab Vigilance Bureau summons ex-CM Channi in assets case

In what could spell trouble for former Punjab chief minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, the state Vigilance Bureau has summoned him in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

Sources said the Vigilance Bureau has asked the Congress leader to join the investigation on Wednesday morning at 10 am. Channi is likely to be questioned in connection with his income and alleged disproportionate assets when he was serving as Punjab chief minister.

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The Bureau had earlier issued a lookout circular on 7 March against the former CM after receiving information that he might attempt to leave the country.  Besides Channi, the Bureau is probing the assets of his brothers, family members and some close aides for allegedly possessing wealth more than their declared sources of income.

Earlier this year, Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate as part of its money-laundering investigation into alleged sand mining operations in Punjab. The agency had seized about Rs 7.9 Crore cash from Honey’s premises and another about Rs 2 crore cash from a linked person identified as Sandeep Kumar.