New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an investigation into a Rs 100 crore money laundering case. The agency conducted fresh search operations at four premises linked to Arora in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region.
The investigation pertained to a large-scale money laundering network involving fake GST transactions. The operation reportedly involved siphoning off government funds by exploiting loopholes in the GST framework, reported news agency PTI.
ED officials alleged that Arora generated fraudulent purchase invoices for mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crore from non-existent firms based in Delhi through his company. These transactions were allegedly used to claim undue input tax credit (ITC), along with wrongful GST refunds on export credits and duty drawbacks.
The vigilance agency also suspects that the proceeds of crime were routed through export channels and subsequently round-tripped back into India from Dubai in an attempt to legitimise the illicit gains, while causing substantial losses to the government exchequer.
The ED is expected to produce Arora before a special PMLA court and seek custodial interrogation to further probe the case. The Ludhiana West MLA had earlier faced ED action in 2024 in a money laundering case related to the alleged conversion of industrial land for residential projects.
AAP Hits Out At BJP
Senior AAP leaders, including Sanjay Singh and Arvind Kejriwal, hit out at the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of misusing central agencies to intimidate the opposition.
Taking to X, Kejriwal wrote, “Several hundred years ago, Aurangzeb seized control over many parts of India through his tyrannies.. Today, Modi has also seized control over many parts of India through deceit.”
“Modi never really understood Punjab at all. A Punjabi will give you everything he has out of love, but if you shove him around, he’ll hit back with full force,” said Kejriwal, daring the Centre to carry out raids in the state. “The ones you arrest will be out in four days, but the BJP won’t be fit to set foot in Punjab for the next twenty years.”
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the “BJP’s ED” had not found anything in connection with the case, and that Punjab will never “bow before Modi’s tactics.”
“ED is acting like a contract killer. State after state, raids are being done on rivals and they are being jailed. This has become the trend of ED. Their experiment in other states is being replicated in Punjab by PM Modi, ahead of elections,” AAP MP Sanjay Singh told ANI.
BJP Hits Back At Kejriwal
In response to Kejriwal’s allegations, BJP spokesperson RP Singh said corruption allegations against AAP leaders are not baseless and that it was Kejriwal who was carrying out “Aurangzeb-like” actions in Punjab.
“While the Punjab Police is not taking action against killings, the drug mafia or the sand mafia in the state, it is being used to target political opponents,” Singh told PTI, adding that the Punjab police was previously sent to arrest Sandeep Pathak, who switched from the AAP to the BJP.
Raghav Chadha, who also switched to the BJP, accused his former party of large-scale financial irregularities and a betrayal of public trust in the state. Chadha said AAP had promised to make Punjab “Rangla Punjab”, but it had instead turned it into “Kangla Punjab”.“Modi never really understood Punjab at all. A Punjabi will give you everything he has out of love, but if you shove him around, he’ll hit back with full force,” said Kejriwal, daring the Centre to carry out raids in the state. “The ones you arrest will be out in four days, but the BJP won’t be fit to set foot in Punjab for the next twenty years.”
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the “BJP’s ED” had not found anything in connection with the case, and that Punjab will never “bow before Modi’s tactics.”
“ED is acting like a contract killer. State after state, raids are being done on rivals and they are being jailed. This has become the trend of ED. Their experiment in other states is being replicated in Punjab by PM Modi, ahead of elections,” AAP MP Sanjay Singh told ANI.
