ED Arrests Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora in Money Laundering Case

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate arrested Punjab industries ninister Sanjeev Arora on Saturday in connection with a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Officials said Arora, 62, was taken into custody following searches at his residence in Chandigarh and other locations. He will be produced in Delhi.

The agency conducted searches at five premises, including locations in Delhi and a company, Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, in Gurugram. The probe relates to alleged fake GST purchases and exports involving more than Rs 100 crore to route funds. The ED alleged that fake invoices were used to claim input tax credit from non-existing firms. It had earlier attached assets worth Rs 157.12 crore linked to the company and Arora under provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Arora, an MLA from Ludhiana West, was earlier searched by the agency in April. He had then said he would cooperate with the investigation.

Reacting to the action, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal criticised the Centre and compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. “Modiji has dishonestly occupied various parts of the country and has now reached Punjab,” he said. Kejriwal told the press conference that though the ED and the CBI are supposed to work on money-laundering and corruption cases,. "Under Modi's rule, these are working to threaten, scare and break away Opposition leaders and force them to join the BJP. The raid against Arora is an action in the same direction,” he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann termed the raids a misuse of central agencies for political purposes. "The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab," Mann said in a post on X.

The BJP rejected the allegations, stating that the action was based on corruption charges and not political considerations.

The agency said the investigation is ongoing.

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