Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday mocked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi after ED conducted raids on the residences of Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh and his associate Sandeep Kumar that reportedly led to recovery of crores of rupees.
"Channi is not aam aadmi but a dishonest man," Kejriwal tweeted.
The Delhi chief minister's tweet came minutes after Channi accused the BJP government of conducting the ED raids with an aim to discredit him ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections.
Earlier in the day, when the ED raids were underway, Kejriwal tweeted: “It is sad that a relative of the chief minister is being raided for sand mining”. What can be expected for Punjab’s future from a person whose family is involved in illegal mining:"
Channi responded by reminding Kejriwal how he had protested after ED raids were conducted on his relatives. Kejriwal retorted by saying that raids were conducted on him and not his relatives, He also pointed out that unlike the recovery of the huge amount of cash from Channi's relative, only mufflers were recovered from his residence.
Also Read | German, Indian Navy chiefs discuss ways to strengthen cooperation
"Channi sahib, Modi ji had raids conducted on me, a sitting CM, and not on my chief minister. They got only ten mufflers from my house. They didn’t find as much cash and vehicles as they did in your house. You have done wonders in 111 days.”
Channi held a press conference after the ED raid and alleged that he is being trapped by the BJP government at the Centre. He claimed that the BJP government is taking revenge from him as he supported the farmers after they stopped PM Modi's cavalcade was stopped at Ferozpur. The road blockade resulted in the prime minister getting stuck on the highway for 15-20 minutes that finally led to cancellation of his rally.
The Punjab CM further alleged that the Central government uses agencies like ED, IT and others against the Opposition leaders to malign them ahead of elections.
Channi also pointed out that ED conducted the raid on the basis of a FIR which was filed in 2018, which did not even include his nephew's name. He alleged that his nephew was tortured and pressurized to take his name. He also claimed that the investigators reminded his nephew of PM Modi’s visit for the rally in Ferozpur. He held the BJP government responsible for the raids and also accused former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Akali Leader Bikram Majithia of having a role behind the raids.
In response to the ED raid, Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday: "Conducting an ED raid is BJP's favorite weapon because they themselves have things to hide. Not everyone is like you. We have #No Fear. #BJPFakeRaid".
Also Read | Red Sanders: The precious sandalwood around which Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa' revolves
ED conducted the raid in connection with illegal sand mining operations being carried out in Punjab. The ED recovered Rs 10 crore in cash from the raids out of which 8 crore was directly seized from the premises of Channi's nephew.
The ED raids came ahead of the Assembly elections that will be conducted on February 20.
