Chandigarh :
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today carried out fresh searches against Sanjeev Arora as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to alleged fake GST transactions and export fraud.
The raids were conducted at five locations in Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh, including the office of Hampton Sky Realty Limited and Arora’s official residence in Chandigarh. According to sources, ED officials reached the minister’s residence around 5 am, with nearly eight official vehicles seen outside during the operation.
This marks the third ED raid at Arora’s premises within the past year.
In an official statement, the ED alleged that Sanjeev Arora, through his company, was involved in large-scale money laundering linked to fake GST purchases of mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crore. The agency claimed that the transactions were followed by exports allegedly used to “round-trip” illegitimate funds from Dubai back to India.
The ED further alleged that fake GST purchase bills were generated using non-existent firms based in Delhi to fraudulently claim input tax credit (ITC), GST refunds on exports and duty drawbacks, causing losses to the exchequer while resulting in alleged personal enrichment.
In April this year, the ED had also raided Arora and related entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Earlier in 2024, the agency had conducted searches in a separate money laundering case linked to the alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects, when Arora was serving as a Rajya Sabha MP.
Responding to the latest raids, Bhagwant Mann criticised the action and said the ED had conducted searches at Sanjeev Arora’s residence for the third time in a year and the second time within a month. In a post on X, Mann claimed that despite repeated raids, nothing had been recovered so far.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mann said Punjab “is the land of Gurus and Bhagat Singh” and would not bow down to what he described as politically motivated actions by the “ED-BJP alliance.”
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the BJP had used agencies such as the ED and Election Commission to win elections in West Bengal and was now attempting similar tactics in Punjab.
Meanwhile, Aman Arora questioned whether the BJP was using central agencies as part of its strategy for the upcoming Punjab elections. He alleged that not only party leaders but also their associates were being targeted.
He also stated that ED searches at the premises of Sanjeev Arora’s close associate Gaurav Dhir had continued for the past two days.
