ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in fresh PMLA case: AAP hits out at Centre

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora following raids in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud-related money laundering case involving certain entities linked to him, officials said. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemned the ED action, accusing the Centre of using agencies like the ED and the CBI as ''weapons'' to scare opposition leaders into joining the BJP. But the BJP hit back, saying AAP supremo and his party are rattled as they know that ''their days are numbered in Punjab''. According to officials, Arora (62) was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following early morning raids at his official residence in Chandigarh. They claimed that the minister was ''non-cooperative'' during the investigation. He will be brought to Delhi, where the case is registered, and the agency will seek his remand for custodial interrogation, the officials said. In less than a year after being sworn in as a minister, Arora has emerged as a key member of the AAP government in Punjab, holding several important portfolios -- industries and commerce, investment promotion, power and local government. Before the arrest, the ED conducted searches at five locations across northern India earlier in the day as part of the operation. These included two premises in Delhi and a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram. The raids came after the central agency registered a new case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to officials. The inputs for the latest case emerged from a FEMA search that the ED had undertaken against Arora and some others on April 17. The agency had raided Arora and his linked entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and on April 19 it provisionally attached 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 was in June 2025 elected as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from the Ludhiana West assembly seat. He was serving as a Rajya Sabha MP when the party leadership selected him to contest the assembly by-election following the death of the sitting MLA. 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. The ED alleged that multiple fake GST purchase invoices were acquired from ''non-existing'' firms in Delhi to falsely claim Input Tax Credit (ITC). 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. Punjab Chief Minister Mann criticised the ED action during a press conference in Sangrur. ''The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab,'' he said. 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. Following the April searches, Arora had said that he would cooperate fully with the investigators and expressed confidence that the truth would prevail. The AAP has called the raids a political witch hunt launched at the behest of the BJP government at the Centre as Punjab goes to polls early next year. In recent weeks, the ED has taken significant actions against politically connected individuals in Punjab, which is due to go to the polls in early 2027. In a Hindi post on X, Kejriwal alleged, ''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 AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal joined the BJP after raids by the ED at his premises. Arora was also raided, but did not join the BJP; so another raid has been conducted, he alleged. The agency had raided the premises of Lovely Group promoter and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, who defected to the BJP along with six other AAP MPs. 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.''

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