Sanjeev Arora ED Raid: In a major development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out multiple raids in Punjab. ED sleuths reached the residence and office of Punjab AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora on Chandigarh road in Ludhiana and some others in a money laundering probe case. Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia took to his X handle and slammed PM Modi of trying to create fake cases against AAP leaders. Below is what Manish Sisodia wrote-
"(Translated Version) Today again Modiji has left his parrot and myna free. Since this morning, ED is raiding the house of Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. In the last two years, they have raided Arvind Kejriwal's house, my house, Sanjay Singh's house, Satyendra Jain's house... nothing was found anywhere. But Modiji's agencies are engaged with full dedication in making fake cases one after the other. These people will go to any extent to break the Aam Aadmi Party. But no matter how much they try, the Aam Aadmi Party people will neither stop, nor sell themselves, nor get scared."
For those who are unaware, apart from being a Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjeev Arora is a Ludhiana-based industrialist who owns a real estate and hosiery business. MP Arora also runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust in Ludhiana. AAP nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in 2022.
Furthermore, ED raided former Punjab Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu's close aide and financier Hemant Sood's and the MP's house at Hampton Homes on Chandigarh Road. It is said that after Bharat Bhushan Ashu's name came up in the transport tender scam, ED investigated the matter. After that, many foreign transactions came to light before ED.
These foreign transactions are being linked to Hemant Sood. ED is continuously questioning Hemant Sood. Records of his properties are also being collected. All the mobile phones of the family have been switched off.
It is pertinent to mention here that Hemant Sood's name has also been linked apart from many others in the Rs 15,000 crore Mahadev App Betting App Scam Case. To be precise, an FIR was registered against 32 high-profile businessmen including 5 from Punjab who were running an alleged illegal gambling and match-fixing racket, causing a loss of Rs 15,000 crore to the Centre, besides the players.
ED is yet to issue any official statements on the raids it is carrying out in Punjab on the premises linked to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora and Hemant Sood.