The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ordeal in Punjab continues. Just over two weeks following the defection of seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party encountered a new crisis on Saturday (May 9) when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Punjab’s Industries and Power Minister Sanjeev Arora at his official residence in Chandigarh.
He was held in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore GST fraud-related money-laundering case involving certain entities linked to him.
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He became the first sitting minister of the state’s Bhagwant Mann administration to be subjected to such detention, less than a year before Punjab goes to its Assembly elections.
Arora held after daylong searches
Arora’s apprehension took place following a day of searches conducted at more than a dozen sites in Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana, focusing on his home, the corporate headquarters of Hampton Sky Realty Limited, and the locations of various associates. This also marks the third ED raid on the AAP leader within a year, with the second taking place in just one month.
The website of Hampton Sky Realty Limited calls it a Ludhiana-based company with business interests in real estate and the fashion industry under the leadership of Arora.
Kejriwal, CM Mann slam ED action
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Mann condemned the ED’s action, accusing the Centre of using central agencies as “weapons” to scare opposition leaders into joining the BJP. The saffron party retaliated, saying Kejriwal and his party were rattled as they knew that “their days are numbered in Punjab”.
Officials said 62-year-old Arora, who became an MLA from the Ludhiana West seat of Punjab last year by winning a by-election, was taken to custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after early morning raids at his official residence. They also alleged that the minister did not cooperate during the probe.
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The AAP leader was set to be brought to Delhi, where the case is registered, and the agency would seek his remand for custodial interrogation, the officials added.
Arora, a key member of AAP govt
Arora, a former Rajya Sabha member, emerged as a key member of the AAP government in Punjab in less than a year after becoming a minister. He has held several key departments, including industries and commerce, and investment promotion, among others.
The arrest came after the ED carried out searches at five locations in various parts of northern India earlier on Saturday. They included two premises in Delhi and Hampton Sky Realty in Gurugram.
The raids were conducted following the registration of a new case by the central agency under the criminal provisions of the PMLA, as reported by officials.
The information pertaining to the most recent case was derived from a FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) investigation that the ED had carried out against Arora and several others on April 17.
Following the April searches, Arora had said that he would cooperate fully with the investigators and expressed confidence that the truth would prevail.
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The latest probe (under the PMLA) pertains to “fake” GST purchases of mobile phones worth more than Rs 100 crore and subsequent exports to “round trip” alleged illegitimate funds from Dubai to India, according to the ED.
Arora was already under investigation in a money laundering case, which included an ED raid in 2024, where he and his associates were accused of misusing industrial land for residential developments while he was a Rajya Sabha MP.
‘Unethical ED-BJP alliance’
Chief Minister Mann slammed the ED action during a press conference in Sangrur, saying, “The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab.”
In a post on X, Kejriwal likened the prime minister to Aurangzeb and alleged that like the Mughal emperor, “Modiji has dishonestly occupied various parts of the country and has now reached Punjab.”
BJP spokesperson R P Singh alleged that AAP is steeped in corruption and that it is Kejriwal, and not Modi, who is carrying out “Aurangzeb-like” actions in Punjab.
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Earlier this week, the agency conducted raids against various Punjab builders and real estate companies, as well as an alleged associate of an AAP functionary.
It also levelled allegations against Punjab AAP president and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, who has described the ED’s claims as a “fabricated narrative”.
Punjab’s Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, who is from the Congress, on Saturday said ED raids on Arora and his arrest have once again highlighted serious corruption allegations against the ruling AAP.
(With agency inputs)
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