The Congress deplored the arrest of Bhupinder Singh alias Honey, nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, by Enforcement Directorate in a case linked to illegal sand mining.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shirnate said every time there is an election, every time a democratically elected government has to be toppled, the Narendra Modi government resorts to using government agencies like the Enforcement Directorate or the CBI or the Income Tax.

“The fact also is that the BJP and the RSS and Modi are absolutely against Dalits. There is a reason why they cannot tolerate. There is a reason why they don’t seem to able to digest the fact that the Dalit can be the Chief Minister of Punjab in independent India. Of course, they have got 17 governments elected all across the country, not one Dalit leads that government and which is why they are targeting Dalits. They are targeting the farmers of Punjab, who stood there, who stood there peacefully and made you bow down and you had to withdraw the farm laws,” she said.

Honey was arrested on Thursday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had raided his premises in January and claimed to have seized about ₹8 crore cash. The Congress is scheduled to announce its chief ministerial candidate on Sunday.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha alleged that Honey made money during the 111 days of Channi government.

“If one relative of Channi accumulated so much ill-gotten wealth in his 111 days of tenure as the chief minister, imagine how much his other relatives would accumulate in five years,” Chadha asked.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said Channi is also involved in illegal sand mining.

“He is answerable, and the chief minister and his party must tell in what capacity was Honey given the security. The money seized is ill-gotten wealth,” Majithia said.