AAP Minister Sanjeev Arora's arrest 'orchestrated', lawyer claims

Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora's lawyer termed his arrest by the ED 'politically motivated'. Arora was remanded for 7 days in a Rs 100 crore money laundering case linked to alleged fraudulent GST transactions. The lawyer claims no probe was done.

Arrest 'Politically Motivated', Says Lawyer

Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora's lawyer, Arjun, termed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate as "politically motivated and orchestrated", alleging that the probe agency has not investigated the alleged corruption case.

Speaking with reporters, the lawyer said that Sanjeev Arora has been remanded for seven days after ED sought a 10-day remand in the court, following his arrest in connection with an ongoing Rs 100 crore money laundering investigation linked to alleged fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) transactions.

"An application was filed for a 10-day remand. A 7-day remand has been granted. The ED didn't actually investigate. They registered a case on May 5th and arrested him on the morning of May 9th. This is politically motivated and orchestrated. No investigation was conducted," Arjun said.

Sanjeev Arora further said that the Punjab Minister will reappear before the court in Gurgaon on May 16. "They (ED) came directly and arrested the minister. We have not received the FIR to date. The ED filed this FIR during the search order. The court has set the date of 16th May for his reappearance, which will take place in Gurgaon," he said.

ED Alleges Rs 100 Crore GST Fraud

The probe agency arrested Punjab minister Arora on Saturday after a day-long search operation carried out across multiple locations associated with him and his business entities.

The raids were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

According to officials, ED teams initiated coordinated searches early on Saturday at five premises spread across Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh. Of these, four locations were directly linked to Arora and his associated entities, while one office premises belonged to Hampton Sky Realty Limited, which is also under the agency's scanner in the case.

ED officials claim that Arora, through his company, generated fraudulent purchase invoices for mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crore from non-existent firms based in Delhi. These transactions were allegedly used to claim undue input tax credit (ITC), along with wrongful GST refunds on export credits and duty drawbacks.

Hampton Sky Realty Limited Responds

Meanwhile, Hampton Sky Realty Limited issued an official statement in response to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) action and Arora's arrest, asserting that it has "full faith in the judiciary and the legal process."

Presenting its position on the allegations, the company said it entered the mobile phone export business in May 2023 in line with the Centre's 'Make in India' initiative and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. It added that the UAE remains a major market for Indian mobile exports. The firm claimed that its export operations were legitimate, and it was a "victim of the GST fraud". (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)