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ED arrests Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora after asset freeze
First sitting minister of Punjab AAP government taken into custody as federal agency targets minister, who held power and industries portfolios, in a widening ₹157.12-crore money laundering probe.
The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested powerful Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora following raids in connection with an alleged GST fraud-related money laundering case involving certain entities linked to him.
The arrest of 60-year-old businessman-turned-politician Arora, the first minister of the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government to be taken into custody by the ED, followed early morning searches at five locations, including his official residence in Chandigarh and the corporate offices of Hampton Sky Realty Limited, a real estate company in Gurugram linked to him.
The development is a major blow to the AAP, which is reeling under the defection of its seven Rajya Sabha members, including six from Punjab, to the BJP.
The arrest prompted a fierce counterattack from the AAP with its national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann condemning the federal agency’s action and accusing the Centre of using agencies such as the ED and the CBI as “weapons” to scare opposition leaders into joining the BJP. The BJP hit back, saying the AAP supremo and his party are rattled as they know that “their days are numbered in Punjab”.
According to ED officials, Arora was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) from his official residence in Chandigarh. They noted that he was “non-cooperative’’ during the investigation. They added that he will be brought to Delhi and produced in court on Sunday for remand.
In less than a year after being sworn in as a minister in August 2025, Arora emerged as a key member of the AAP government, holding several important portfolios -- industries and commerce, investment promotion, power and local government. Arora made his political debut in 2022 when he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP. He subsequently resigned from the Upper House in July 2025 after winning the Ludhiana West assembly byelection in June 2025.
The raids came after the central agency registered a new case under the criminal sections of the PMLA, according to officials. The inputs for the latest case emerged from a FEMA search that the ED had undertaken against Arora and others on April 17. Before his arrest, the ED provisionally attached bank accounts, demat holdings, and immovable assets linked to Hampton Sky Realty Limited and entities associated with Arora. According to the company’s website, Arora’s son Kavya is the managing director while wife Sandhya is a director.
The investigation centres on a complex ₹157.12-crore export scam involving fake invoices from non-existent firms in the Delhi-NCR region to generate artificial purchases of mobile phones. Investigators allege a pattern of round-tripping, claiming that ₹102.50 crore was funnelled through two UAE-based shell entities—M/s Fortbel Telecom FZCO and M/s Dragon Global FZCO—before being returned to India as legitimate investments.
These attachment orders, issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and the Income Tax Act, mandate a 180-day freeze on all linked assets.
Hampton Sky Realty Limited, on its part, said the company has faith in the legal process and is fully cooperating with all the statutory authorities and will continue to do so.
“All relevant facts, documents and verifiable records will be placed before the appropriate fora in due course of law. The company has complete faith in the facts of the case, in the integrity of its statutory records, and in the wisdom of the judiciary. It is confident that the truth will prevail,” said a statement issued by the realty firm.
The company said it entered the mobile phone export business in May 2023 in line with the Government of India’s “Make in India” initiative and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Claiming that its export operations were legitimate, the company stated that it exported 44,471 genuine mobile phones and accessories. It further said that all exports underwent Customs and OEM verification.
Sanjeev Arora’s arrest comes just 48 hours after the ED formally linked Punjab AAP president and cabinet minister Aman Arora to a separate money-laundering and land scam investigation in Mohali. Aman Arora, who has described the ED’s claims as a “fabricated narrative.”
In recent weeks, the ED has taken significant actions against politically connected individuals in Punjab, which is due to go to the polls in early 2027.
The AAP called the raids a political witch hunt launched at the behest of the BJP government at the Centre as Punjab goes to polls early next year.
The agency had raided the premises of Lovely Group promoter and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, who defected to the BJP along with six other AAP MPs. Earlier this week, the agency conducted raids against various Punjab builders and real estate companies, as well as an alleged associate of an AAP functionary.
Mann termed the operation as a political vendetta designed to engineer defections.
“For the past few years, Punjab has been experiencing the BJP’s way of working. BJP has weapons of ED, CBI and Income Tax, which it has been using. And now, Punjab is on the BJP’s target,” Mann said at Fatehgarh Sahib after culminating his four-day Shukrana Yatra (thanksgiving march) for enactment of the anti-sacrilege law. “I want to tell the BJP that Punjab is not scared of threats. I condemn ED’s actions,” he said.
“This is not merely a raid on Sanjeev Arora, but an attack on Punjab and the pride of 3 crore Punjabis. The BJP’s sole agenda is to eliminate opposition parties from the country. Earlier Aman Arora was targeted, and now ED has once again been used against Sanjeev Arora. The BJP is misusing constitutional institutions to intimidate opposition leaders so that no one dares to raise their voice against it,” alleged state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
Minister and AAP state chief Aman Arora stated, “The BJP is making desperate attempts to establish political ground in Punjab by misusing central agencies. These raids are not about investigation but are merely politics of intimidation.”
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said ED raids on AAP minister Sanjeev Arora and his arrest have once again highlighted serious corruption allegations against the ruling party. Bajwa also questioned the timing of the action by the ED, saying that if there was sufficient evidence, steps should have been taken earlier.
