ED raids AAP minister Sanjeev Arora

Jalandhar: Even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on Wednesday at premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal and his family were yet to conclude, ED sleuths on Friday raided Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora, his business partners Hemant Sood in Ludhiana and Chandrasekhar Aggarwal in Jalandhar. It is after about a year and a half that the ED has raided Arora, Sood and Aggarwal again.In Jalandhar, ED sleuths raided Aggarwal's residence in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar and the office of his company, Mexmon Financials Pvt Ltd, near Jyoti Chowk. The sleuths reached these locations around dawn.On Oct 7, 2024, the ED, Jalandhar, had carried out search operations at various business and residential premises linked to Arora's company, M/s Hampton Sky Realty (erstwhile Ritesh Properties Industries Ltd), and its directors/partners, Sood and Aggarwal. At that time, raids were also conducted at premises linked to M/s Royal Industries Ltd (RIL) and its directors, Gurmeet Singh and Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal.After those raids, ED said it had initiated an investigation based on a criminal complaint filed in a Ludhiana court under various sections of the IPC against M/s Ritesh Properties Industries Ltd (RPIL), and an FIR registered by Ludhiana Police against M/s Royal Industries Ltd."During investigation, it was found that, with the objective of promoting industry in Punjab, both entities — M/s Hampton Sky Realty (erstwhile RPIL) and M/s Royal Industries Ltd — were allotted industrial land by the Punjab govt with certain conditions. Investigation revealed that M/s RIL sold the allotted industrial land in violation of those conditions," ED said."ED investigation further revealed that Hampton Sky Realty changed land use without permission of the Punjab govt and later developed a residential project and business park on the land by concealing material facts while seeking permission. These activities caused loss to the Punjab govt and generated huge proceeds of crime," the ED said.