ED raids Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora in Rs 100 cr money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided multiple locations linked to Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora as part of an alleged Rs 100 crore money laundering probe involving fake GST transactions. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann accused the BJP of misusing the agency.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday carried out raids at multiple locations linked to Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an ongoing alleged Rs 100 crore money laundering probe. The searches are being conducted at five premises across Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Of these, four locations are allegedly associated with Arora and his entities, while one office premises belongs to Hampton Sky Realty Limited.

Details of the Money Laundering Probe

The ED investigation relates to an alleged large-scale money laundering operation involving alleged fake GST transactions. Officials said Arora, through his company, is allegedly accused of generating fraudulent purchase bills of mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crore from allegedly non-existent firms based in Delhi. These fake transactions were allegedly used to claim undue input tax credit (ITC), along with wrongful GST refunds on export credits and duty drawbacks. The agency further suspects that the funds were allegedly routed through exports and subsequently allegedly round-tripped from Dubai to India to legitimise illicit gains, causing significant losses to the government exchequer.

The search operations, currently underway at four premises allegedly linked to Arora and his associates in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region, including his official residence allegedly allotted as a minister.

CM Bhagwant Mann Accuses BJP of Misusing ED

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday accused the BJP of misusing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the premises belonging to Punjab minister and MLA Sanjeev Arora again.CM Mann said this was the third ED visit to Arora's house in one year and the second in the last month, but claimed that nothing had been found so far. He said Punjab would not bow to pressure or political tactics.

In a post on X, Punjab CM wrote, "Today, 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. I want to tell Modi ji that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue."

The Chief Minister also said that Punjab, the land of the Gurus and freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, has always stood strong against injustice and would continue to do so. "This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British, so Punjab will never bow before Modi's tactics. The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab itself," the post read. (ANI)

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