Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Punjab cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving about Rs 100 crore, officials said.
Arora was taken into custody during searches at his official residence in Chandigarh, near the chief minister’s home in Sector 2, as the central agency conducted raids at five locations across Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh linked to him and his company.
The searches covered office premises of Hampton Sky Realty Limited and Arora’s residence as part of a probe into alleged fake goods and services tax (GST) transactions and exports.
The action comes amid a series of ED searches targeting leaders and associates of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann criticised the operation, accusing the federal government of using the agency for political ends. “This is the third time in a year that the ED has searched Sanjeev Arora’s house, and the second time in the last month. They have found nothing,” Mann said in a statement.
The ED had earlier raided premises linked to Arora in October 2024 in a separate case alleging land fraud and money laundering. At the time, the agency searched multiple locations connected to Hampton Sky Realty Limited, formerly known as Ritesh Properties and Industries Limited, citing alleged illegal change of land use, fraudulent bookings and generation of proceeds of crime. Arora had said then that he would cooperate with the investigation. |
