Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora was on Sunday sent to seven days of Enforcement Directorate custody in connection with a money-laundering investigation into allegedly fraudulent Goods and Services Tax transactions, PTI reported.
The 62-year-old minister was arrested by the central agency on Saturday from his official residence in Chandigarh. The arrest followed searches at five locations linked to him and his company in Chandigarh, Gurugram and Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The searches were conducted at the office premises of a firm named Hampton Sky Realty Limited and four premises that are said to be directly linked to Arora and his associated entities.
According to unidentified ED officials, the agency had detected a large-scale money-laundering operation allegedly carried out by Arora, through his company, involving fake GST purchases of mobile phones worth over Rs 100 crore and subsequent exports aimed at round-tripping illegitimate funds from Dubai to India.
The officials alleged that several fake GST purchase bills had been obtained from non-existent firms in Delhi to claim fake input tax credit, GST refunds on export credit and duty drawback benefits.
Arora was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court after the arrest, PTI reported.
The ED had sought 10 days of his custody, but the court granted seven days and fixed May 16 for his next appearance, The Tribune reported.
Arora’s lawyer alleged that the case was “politically motivated and orchestrated”, the newspaper reported.
The lawyer also claimed that a copy of the first information report had not been provided.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday criticised the ED action and accused the Centre of using probe agencies such as the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation to target Opposition leaders.
Later on Sunday, Kejriwal commended Arora for going to jail instead of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“A person's character is revealed in times of trouble,” he said.
In April too, the central agency searched the offices and houses linked to Arora and his associates in Gurugram, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
The AAP leader was raided by the ED in 2024 also in a money laundering case linked to alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects, according to The Hindu.
Edited by Sneha
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