Chandigarh, May 9 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Sanjeev Arora, one of the powerful Cabinet ministers in the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government, from his official residence in Sector 2 here. The action came after the ED carried out extensive search operations on Sanjeev Arora's residences and offices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002. However, there is no official statement from the ED on his arrest. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia claimed that Arora has been arrested for alleged GST fraud.Since Saturday morning, the ED has been conducting searches at four premises linked to Arora and this is the third raid in a year.

In April, the ED had raided Arora’s locations for the second time. According to officials, the searches were carried out in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region. The premises being searched include the official residence allotted to Arora as the Cabinet minister in Chandigarh.Responding to the raid, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused the BJP of misusing central agencies. In a post on X, CM Mann wrote, “Today, once again, the BJP’s ED has come to Sanjeev Arora’s house. In one year, this is the third time the BJP’s ED has come to his house. And in the last one month, the second time. Yet, they haven’t found anything.”He further wrote, “I want to tell Modi ji that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue. This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British, so Punjab will never bow before Modi’s tactics. The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab itself.”

In 2024, Arora, the legislator from Ludhiana (West), had faced the ED’s raids in a money laundering case related to the alleged conversion of industrial land for residential projects. At that time, he was a Rajya Sabha MP.AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “Since the Modi government has come to power in the country, we have seen the CBI and the ED work, not to stop corruption and money laundering, respectively, but work to break other parties and to threaten other political leaders and make them join the BJP. Raid by ED is an action in the same direction...”SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the ED raids have been linked to Hampton Sky Realty Ltd. “The ED is probing an alleged Rs 100 crore fake GST mobile phone purchase and export racket linked to money laundering and round tripping of funds from Dubai to India,” Majithia wrote on X.

In another tweet he said minister Arora has been arrested. “The ED arrest of Sanjeev Arora has exposed the seriousness of the alleged fraud and financial irregularities network operating in Punjab."“I demand immediate lookout circulars against OSD CM Rajbir Singh, Nitin Gohal, Birdevinder Singh and Pritpal Singh Dhindsa. Every individual linked to alleged GST fraud, illegal Dubai money transfers and suspicious land dealings must face strict investigation. Farmers deserve answers on allegations that land was bought cheap and sold at massive profits through a powerful nexus,” Majithia said.He alleged that Punjab cannot be turned into a hub of corruption, middlemen and political protection. “If state Vigilance can act against Opposition leaders, the same law must apply equally to ruling party leaders and their associates,” the Akali leader added.

/IANS