Chandigarh, June 9, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday strongly defended Punjab’s Hindu traders following fresh Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids in the state, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using investigative agencies to harass the trading community and exert political pressure.
As the ED carried out searches in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore GST fraud and money laundering case linked to jailed Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora and others, Kejriwal alleged that “Hindu traders” in Punjab were being targeted, while Mann described them as the backbone of the state’s economy and assured them of the Punjab Government’s full support.
Reacting to the fresh searches conducted by the ED in Punjab and the National Capital Region, AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged that central agencies were once again targeting Punjab’s trading community.
In a post on social media platform X, Kejriwal claimed that the “ED party” was conducting raids on Hindu traders in Punjab and harassing small businessmen. He appealed to traders not to panic, assuring them that the entire state and the Punjab Government stood firmly with them.
“There is no need to panic. The entire Punjab and the Punjab government are with you. We will all together confront the ED party,” Kejriwal said.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann echoed Kejriwal’s stand and accused the Centre of misusing enforcement agencies for political purposes.
Reposting Kejriwal’s statement, Mann said Punjab’s Hindu traders were the backbone of the state’s economy and played a significant role in building a prosperous and vibrant Punjab.
“The ED party wants to harass our traders by misusing central agencies. By doing so, they are trying to bring them into their fold through political pressure, which Punjabis will absolutely not tolerate,” Mann said.
The Chief Minister asserted that the Punjab Government stood firmly with the state’s traders and would continue to protect their interests.
The reactions came after the Enforcement Directorate carried out another round of searches on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering investigation related to an alleged GST fraud estimated at around Rs 100 crore and linked to the sale of mobile phones.
According to official sources, the searches were conducted at multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Punjab, including Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The investigation is linked to Hampton Sky Realty, a company associated with Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora.
The ED also searched premises linked to Jalandhar-based Municipal Corporation contractor Amit Bajaj. Amit Bajaj and his brother Inderjit Bajaj are known contractors who have executed projects for municipal bodies and government departments in Punjab and other states.
The fresh action comes nearly a month after the ED arrested Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Arora is currently in judicial custody.
Following his arrest, Arora approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the ED’s action and claiming that his arrest was arbitrary, without jurisdiction and in violation of constitutional safeguards guaranteed under Articles 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
Arora had been arrested from his official residence in Chandigarh on May 9. Earlier searches were also conducted at locations linked to him in Chandigarh and Delhi-NCR.
This is not the first time Arora has come under the ED scanner. In 2024, while serving as a Rajya Sabha MP, he faced ED searches in a separate money laundering investigation related to the alleged conversion of industrial land for residential projects.
Meanwhile, Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, formerly known as Ritesh Properties and Industries, has denied all allegations levelled against it. Following Arora’s arrest, the company issued a statement asserting that all its mobile-phone export operations were fully compliant with applicable laws.
The company maintained that it entered the mobile-phone export business in May 2023 as part of the Government of India’s focus on boosting exports under the Make in India initiative and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes.
Rejecting allegations of bogus exports or round-tripping of funds, the company stated that no funds had been retained overseas, concealed in offshore accounts or routed back to any individual or entity. It further claimed that it was itself a victim of alleged supplier-side fraud.
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