Enforcement Directorate (ED) reported to have arrested Punjab’s Power, Industries, Investment Promotion, and Local Government Minister Sanjeev Arora, following raids at his residence on Saturday. These raids were conducted by the central agency at Arora’s place, and some others allegedly linked to him as part of an investigation into a newly registered money laundering case.
Arora's official residence in Chandigarh was among the five premises raided across north India. The raids also covered two premises in Delhi and that of a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Gurugram's Udyog Vihar.
The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
On April 17, the ED had raided Arora and his linked entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). As part of this action, officials said, the agency provisionally attached on April 19 the movable and immovable assets of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, its director Arora, and entities linked to him for alleged FEMA violation through bogus sales and exports to the tune of Rs 157.12 crore.
Arora, 62, is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from the Ludhiana West assembly seat.
Mann and Kejriwal slammed the raids —
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the raids in a press conference in Sangrur, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using agencies like the ED and the CBI as "weapons" to meet their political ends.
"The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab," Mann claimed in a post on X.
Meanwhile, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ED raids, alleging Punjab has been "ill-treated" and "coerced" by the Government of India in the last few years.
In a long Hindi post on X , Kejriwal charged, "Modi ji has got daily ED raids started in Punjab soon after the Bengal polls concluded. Modi ji has coerced Punjab in the last few years and ill-treated Punjabis by different means.'' Kejriwal said Mughal emperor Aurangzeb also tortured Sikh Gurus, but they saved people from him. Like Aurangzeb, he alleged, "Modi ji has dishonestly occupied various parts of the country and now reached Punjab.
"Punjab, taking inspiration from the sacrifices of Sikh Gurus, will face Modi ji's torture and save the whole country from it." The former Delhi chief minister alleged that attempts were made to weaken the water rights of Punjab, take away Panjab University, stop rural development funds were stopped and now relentless ED raids have started.
Follow us
