Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora arrested after the raid, ED’s big action in money laundering case

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab has suffered a major setback on Saturday. Cabinet Minister and Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. ED had started raids in the morning in this case related to fake GST bills worth more than Rs 100 crore. After about 7 hours of raid, he was arrested from the government residence in Chandigarh.

ED raid

ED team raided five locations of Sanjeev Arora located in Chandigarh, Delhi and Gurugram. These included the premises of Hampton Sky Realty Limited Company. The raid was conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

ED had also raided Arora and his companies under FEMA in April. Arora is the MLA from Ludhiana West seat in Punjab Assembly. According to sources, his son has also been arrested in this case.

What is the whole matter?

According to ED, Sanjeev Arora is accused of making fake GST purchase bills worth more than Rs 100 crore and money laundering. The central agency has registered a new case in this matter. Many important documents have also been recovered in the investigation.

Bhagwant Mann’s sharp attack

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann targeted the central government over the action of ED. In a press conference in Sangrur, he said that the BJP government is misusing central agencies like ED, CBI and Income Tax to suppress political opponents.

Mann said, “These agencies have become weapons of the BJP. After Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka, Bengal, now Punjab is being targeted.” He alleged that the central government is making political use of these agencies to weaken the opposition parties.

ED told the reason for the arrest

Sanjeev Arora is a senior leader of AAP and was holding important responsibilities in the Punjab government. His arrest has created a stir in Punjab politics. AAP workers and leaders are calling this action a political conspiracy, while ED says that the action has been taken on the basis of evidence.