Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora Arrested By Probe Agency ED After Raids

Punjab Power Minister Sanjeev Arora has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) hours after it began raiding premises linked to him and a few others on Saturday, prompting a swift condemnation of the action from AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Arora, 62, is the AAP MLA from the Ludhiana West assembly seat.

According to officials, the ED carried out searches at four locations connected to Arora and his entities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The raids were conducted in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region, and the minister was arrested from his official residence in Chandigarh's Sector 2. 

This is the third time Arora has been raided this year, with similar action being taken against him earlier this month and in April.

Hitting out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the raids, Kejriwal - who has often accused the party of “misusing” central agencies like the ED - said the people of Punjab are upset with the party.  

“A Punjabi will give you everything he has out of love, but if you shove him around, he'll hit back with full force. Modi ji, go ahead and carry out four more ED raids - BJP's deposits on all their seats will get forfeited. The ones you arrest will be out in four days, but the BJP won't be fit to set foot in Punjab for the next twenty years,” he wrote on X. 

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also criticised the BJP, saying agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department were being used as "political weapons" and their activities intensify in states that are heading into elections. Assembly polls in Punjab will be held next year. 

"For a long time, they have been using agencies for their politics. Be it Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka, or West Bengal. Now, Punjab is their target. The purpose of ED raids is not to recover black money or documents. The real intention is to pressure leaders into joining the BJP by threatening their businesses and reputation," the AAP leader said. 

Mann also referred to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, claiming that raids were carried out at his residence and university for two days, after which he joined the BJP and the action stopped.

"If there were serious cases, where did they disappear?" he asked.