Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Sanjeev Arora was arrested on Saturday following a raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The agency alleges that Arora was involved in fake GST transactions worth over Rs 100 crore and the round-tripping of funds from Dubai to India.
The arrest comes amid strong support from AAP leadership. Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann have publicly stood by Arora.
Kejriwal, holding a press conference at Delhi as the ED operation unfolded, accused government agencies of being “misused” for political purposes, alleging that attempts are being made to target the party to break AAP.
Arora, regarded as one of the most influential ministers in the Mann Cabinet, is seen as a key link between the AAP government and Punjab’s industrial sector. ED officials reached his Chandigarh residence in the early hours of Saturday, with around 20 personnel arriving in eight vehicles. This marks the third raid on the minister, with another operation taking place less than a month ago.
The ED conducted searches at five locations across Delhi, Gurugram, and Chandigarh, including the office of Hampton Sky Realty Limited, a company promoted by Arora’s family, and his personal residence.
According to ED sources, the agency is investigating a large-scale money laundering operationallegedly involving Arora and his company. The probe claims that fraudulent GST bills for mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crorewere generated from non-existent Delhi-based firms. These fake transactions were allegedly used to claim undue input tax credit (ITC), wrongful GST refunds on export credits, and duty drawbacks, resulting in significant losses to the government exchequer.
The ED further alleges that the proceeds were routed through exports and round-tripped from Dubai to India, allegedly to legitimize illicit funds.
Responding to the raids, CM Mann said, “Punjab would not bow to pressure or political tactics.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he added: “Today, once again, the BJP’s ED has come to Sanjeev Arora’s house. In one year, this is the third time, and in the last month, the second. Yet, they haven’t found anything. Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue.”
