The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided the house of Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora. Today (April 17) the ED team reached his house in Ludhiana in the morning and Central Police Force has been deployed outside. The residence and other places of Minister Sanjeev Arora were also raided.
According to sources, this action is being taken in connection with an old case related to money laundering and alleged irregularities in land deals. Searches were conducted in 13 premises under FEMA in Gurugram, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. This included the residences and offices of Sanjeev Arora, Hemant Sood and Chandrashekhar Aggarwal.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday (April 17) searched premises linked to Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora and some others as part of the investigation. Agency officials are investigating Ludhiana and some other places. ED had also raided the house of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arora in 2024. Then the ED had said in a statement that companies linked to Arora and some other institutions caused loss to the state government and earned black money by alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects.
Shocking revelation in ED investigation
ED investigation has revealed that large scale investments were made in real estate and infrastructure projects through Sanjeev Arora’s company Hampton Sky Realty Ltd (earlier Ritesh Properties), but there are allegations of serious irregularities associated with it. The agency suspects that illegal changes in land use were made, share prices were increased by showing fake bookings and profits were made through inside trading in the stock market. His son Kavya Arora, the current MD of the company, is also under investigation.
The role of Ludhiana businessman Hemnath Sood is also said to be important in this entire matter. His company Findoc Finvest is accused of helping in bringing black money from UAE to India and converting it into white through investment. According to ED, this money was routed through the FPI route and used in the stock market. At the same time, Jalandhar based businessman Chandrashekhar Aggarwal is accused of starting a betting network named ‘Khiladi Book’ by starting with cricket betting and collected huge amount of money by cheating thousands of people. This money was first sent to UAE and then invested in real estate projects in India. Investigative agencies believe that there is a big connection between hawala and betting in this entire network.
ED also suspects that Sanjeev Arora used his political influence to protect illegal betting operators in Punjab and in return took a share of their profits. Also, work was done to convert this black money into legitimate investment through their companies. The investigation has also revealed fake export bills, fraudulent transactions through shell companies and non-existent GST firms. At present this entire action has been taken under FEMA.
ED raids Ashok Mittal’s house also
On Wednesday, ED raided the house of Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal in Jalandhar and his private university. The ED raid at his house ended this morning itself but the ED search is still going on in his private university.
Also read – ED Raids Ashok Mittal Premises: How much money is Ashok Mittal, whose hideout was raided by ED?
Punjab CM will hold press conference
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will address a press conference at 10.30 am regarding the continuous raids conducted by ED on Aam Aadmi Party leaders in Punjab. Earlier, Bhagwant Mann had raised questions about the ED raid on the house of Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal and his associated premises and targeted the government.
Who is Sanjeev Arora?
Sanjeev Arora is counted among the big businessmen. He runs an export company named Ritesh Industries Limited. He started his work by opening his export office in Virginia, America. He entered politics in the year 2022. Aam Aadmi Party nominated him for Rajya Sabha. In February 2025, he won the elections from Ludhiana West seat. Arora is considered close to Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
Also read – Big shock to MP close to Arvind Kejriwal, ED reached home early in the morning, Bhagwant Mann said – ‘Stay in control’