Punjab Power, Industries, Investment Promotion and Local Government Minister Sanjeev Arora was arrested by sleuths of the ED in a Rs 100-crore money laundering case after a long search operation — that lasted several hours — at his official residence in Chandigarh’s posh Sector 2 on Saturday.
Even as the entire rank and file of the Aam Aadmi Party, led by national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann stood by him, the ED said he had been arrested in a case related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Arora is considered the most powerful minister in the Mann Cabinet and was largely responsible for forging ties between the AAP government and state’s industrialists. As the Investment Promotion Minister, he was largely instrumental in getting foreign investors and state’s own investors to commit to investing in Punjab.
Talking to reporters in Sangrur, Mann said, “By using the ED to conduct raids, the purpose was not to find any black money or illegal documents, but to send a message to the person being raided to join the BJP.”
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the BJP was using the ED, CBI, SIR and the EC to crush opposition governments. “The Constitution framed by Dr BR Ambedkar is under attack because of the BJP’s dictatorial politics,” he said.
The ED sleuths reached Arora’s Chandigarh residence in the early hours. Around 20 sleuths of the ED had come in eight vehicles. During the search operation, Arora complained of uneasy and a four-member team of doctors was called in for his medical examination.
This is the third search conducted on the AAP leader, with one having been conducted less than a month ago at his Ludhiana residence and office, besides that of his business associates. The searches on Arora in April were conducted after similar searches were conducted on the premises of Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal. Mittal, along with six others, subsequently defected and joined the BJP.
Sources in the ED said the searches on Saturday were carried out on five premises in Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh. These were carried out on the office premises of Hampton Sky Realty Limited — promoted by Arora’s family — and on Arora’s house.
“The ED had detected a case of large-scale money laundering by Arora through his company in fake GST purchase of mobile phones of over Rs 100 crore and subsequent exports to “round-trip” illegitimate funds from Dubai to India. Multiple fake GST purchase bills have been obtained from non-existing firms in Delhi to claim fake input tax credit; refund of GST on export credit; and duty drawback, thereby causing a loss to the exchequer, and personal enrichment,” said an official.
A statement issued by Hampton Sky Realty Limited said the company reposed complete faith in the legal and constitutional framework of the country. The UAE is the second-largest global destination for Indian mobile phone exports.
Recognising this national thrust, the company entered the mobile phone export business in May 2023. “During the export period, the company exported 44,471 units of branded handsets and accessories comprising Apple iPhones and AirPods (96.7 per cent), Samsung handsets (3.2 per cent) and OnePlus handsets (0.06 per cent) — all genuine products of leading global manufacturers.
Every export was verified at multiple statutory stages by independent authorities outside the company’s control.
