CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday claimed that it has exposed a multi-crore sand mining racket being run by CM Charanjit Singh Channi through a sting operation, and demanded a CBI probe into the case in Channi’s home constituency of Chamkaur Sahib.
Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia produced the purported audio recordings saying that an impartial probe could reveal the extent to which the chief minister and his family had looted the State exchequer through illegal sand mining mafia. "The total loot by Channi in his 111-day tenure will be more than Rs 1,111 crore”.
Majithia released the audio recordings of the chief minister’s closest aide and Salapur village Sarpanch Iqbal Singh and his son Binder in which they detailed the entire illegal sand mining operation being run with the chief minister’s blessings.
The audio recordings, done by one Darshan Singh who had befriended members of the sand mafia to expose them, even has Iqbal saying the chief minister had told him not to fear anything and even do mining on forest land. It also gave an account of how a forest guard was browbeaten into silence. The recordings show that the mafia was also using boats and forklifts to mine sand from river beds.
As per the audio recordings, Iqbal Singh said the concerned DFO had told him to give his number to all the drivers and that he would personally ensure they would not have any problem in mining sand on forest land. It also disclosed that out of the total sand being quarried, as much as Rs 1.50 per cubic feet was going to Channi. The recordings revealed that one Rakesh Chaudhary of Jammu was the leader of the sand mafia.
Majithia said, "It is also certain that the proceeds of this illegal activity were going to the Congress party and this was why the Congress high command, as well as leaders like Harish Chaudhary, were trying to save Channi by asserting that he was being victimised.
The SAD leader further said the very fact that the Congress came out in defense of Bhupinder Honey, the CM’s nephew who was running the illegal mining racket, proved that Honey and Channi were using money to purchase patronage from the AICC. “This angle should also be probed thoroughly," Majithia added.