Chandigarh, May 9 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday morning conducted a massive search operation at the Sector-2 residence of Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora.
In a high-voltage development, a team of officials in nearly 20 vehicles cordoned off the minister’s house to carry out the investigation.
The action triggered a sharp reaction from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who took to social media to condemn the raids. CM Mann termed the investigative agency as "BJP’s ED," noting that this marks the third time in a year and the second time within a single month that the minister's residence has been targeted.
"I want to tell Modi Ji that Punjab is the land of Gurus; even Aurangzeb could not make us bow. This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British. Punjab will never yield to Modi's tactics," Mann stated, adding that Punjab would be the one to end the "unethical alliance" between the ED and the BJP. The Chief Minister is scheduled to address a press conference at 10:00 am in Sangrur today to discuss the matter further.
The ED action follows a marathon 40-hour raid at the Western Tower in Kharar, Mohali, which concluded late Friday night. Officials were seen exiting the premises with six bags of evidence. While the raid targeted IT businessman Nitin Gohil, reportedly an associate of Rajbir Ghumman, OSD to the CM, there has been no official confirmation regarding Gohil’s arrest.
The central agency's probe centres on a multi-crore money laundering racket involving fraudulent Change of Land Use (CLU) certificates. According to ED sources, the scam involves the fabrication of consent letters using forged signatures of 15 landowners to illegally obtain CLU permissions from GMADA for the Suntech City project. Investigations reveal that over Rs150 crore was allegedly collected from buyers without valid sale deeds.
The investigation has also cast a shadow over Minister Aman Arora. The ED alleges that Gaurav Dhir, a close associate of Aman Arora, facilitated money laundering by attempting to acquire properties at undervalued rates. While Aman Arora acknowledged his friendship with Dhir in a recent press conference, he categorically denied any involvement in his business dealings.
The case further involves allegations against Altus Space Builders for misleading buyers regarding GMADA approvals. The agency is also scrutinising the role of middlemen like Nitin Gohil and Pritpal Singh Dhindsa, who allegedly provided political patronage to the accused. During the Mohali raids, residents reported finding bags of cash containing ₹500 notes allegedly thrown from a ninth-floor balcony, though the source remains unconfirmed. The ED had earlier confirmed the recovery of ₹1 crore in connection with this ongoing investigation.
UNI NB AAB