Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Sanjeev Arora, a prominent Cabinet minister in the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government, from his official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh. The arrest followed extensive search operations conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) at multiple premises linked to him. However, the agency has not yet issued an official statement confirming the arrest.
According to officials, the ED carried out coordinated raids at four locations connected to Arora, including his official ministerial residence in Chandigarh. This marks the third such search operation against him within a year. Earlier, in April, the ED had also conducted raids at his premises in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region. In 2024, similar action had been taken in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to the alleged conversion of industrial land for residential projects, during which Arora was serving as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia claimed that Arora’s arrest is connected to an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud. He stated that the ED’s probe is linked to Hampton Sky Realty Limited and alleged a Rs 100 crore fake mobile phone purchase and export racket involving money laundering and round-tripping of funds between Dubai and India.
Majithia further asserted that the investigation is examining financial irregularities and called for lookout circulars against several individuals, including OSD to the Chief Minister Rajbir Singh, Nitin Gohal, Birdevinder Singh, and Pritpal Singh Dhindsa. He alleged that individuals involved in GST fraud, illegal overseas fund transfers, and suspicious land transactions must face strict investigation, adding that farmers deserve clarity regarding claims of land being purchased at low prices and sold at significantly higher rates through an alleged nexus.
Responding to the raids, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing central investigative agencies. In a post on social media platform X, he stated that the ED had visited Sanjeev Arora’s residence for the third time in a year and for the second time in the past month, yet nothing had been found.
He further wrote that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue, and the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British. He asserted that Punjab would not bow before what he described as political tactics, and said the end of the “unethical alliance” between the ED and the BJP would begin from Punjab.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal also criticised the action, stating that since the Modi government came to power, agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED have not been used to curb corruption or money laundering, but to pressure opposition parties, break them, and force leaders to join the BJP. He described the raid as part of this pattern.
Meanwhile, Bikram Singh Majithia reiterated that the ED arrest exposes the seriousness of the alleged financial irregularities network operating in Punjab, and maintained that law enforcement must apply equally to both ruling and opposition leaders.
The investigation is ongoing.
With IANS inputs