The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted fresh raids on Saturday against Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora and several associates in a money laundering case, targeting five locations including his Chandigarh residence and a Gurugram real estate firm. According to latest reports, the action was taken under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This marks the third time in one year that the BJP's ED has raided Arora's house, with the second raid occurring in the last one month alone. In April, the ED had previously raided Arora and entities linked to him under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Arora had then stated that he would fully cooperate with the probe agencies and expressed confidence that the truth would prevail. ED officials had reached Arora's Chandigarh residence in the early hours of Saturday morning, with around 20 ED officials arriving in eight vehicles for the prolonged search operation at his official residence in Chandigarh's Sector 2.
The ED has allegedly detected a case where Sanjeev Arora conducted large-scale money laundering through his company using fake GST purchases of mobile phones worth more than ₹100 crores. As per The Hindu, officials alleged that multiple fake GST purchase bills were obtained from non-existent firms in Delhi to claim fake ITC and refund of GST on export credit, duty drawback, and subsequent exports used to round-trip illegitimate funds from Dubai to India, thereby causing loss to the exchequer and personal enrichment. This marks the third time in one year that the BJP's ED has raided Arora's house, with the second raid occurring in the last one month alone. Searches were conducted at five premises in Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh, including the office premises of Hampton Sky Realty Limited — promoted by Arora's family — and the residence of Sanjeev Arora. The ED searches were specifically conducted as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to alleged fake GST transactions and exports.
The development triggered sharp political reaction from the ruling AAP, with the entire rank and file of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, standing by Arora claiming that the ED was being misused for political gains. Mann stated, "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 added that "the end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab itself." AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal criticized the ED raid, claiming that under Modi rule, these agencies are "working to threaten, scare and break away opposition leaders and force them to join the BJP." AAP leader Sanjay Singh also criticised the BJP, called the ED the BJP's 'supari killer' and alleged that the raids were politically motivated. He claimed the agency would spread "fake news" for a few days before leaving without result.
Sanjeev Arora, 62, is an AAP MLA from the Ludhiana West assembly seat and is considered one of the most powerful ministers in the Bhagwant Mann Cabinet and widely seen as the key link between the AAP government and the state's industrialists. He was previously investigated in 2024 when he was a Rajya Sabha MP, where he and his associates were alleged to have misused industrial land for residential projects. Following the April searches, Arora said that he would fully cooperate with the probe agencies and that he was confident that the truth will 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. The ED, over the last few weeks, has undertaken some major actions against politically linked persons in Punjab, which is slated to go to the polls in early 2027.
