The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Punjab Minister and senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sanjeev Arora in connection with an alleged GST fraud amounting to Rs 100 crore and money laundering case.

The arrests came after eight hours of questioning at Arora’s residence, after coordinated raids were carried out at five locations across Gurugram, Chandigarh and Delhi. The locations which were raided included premises linked to Hampton Sky Realty Limited, as well as other properties linked to the minister.

Arora accused of fake billing, money laundering

As per ED officials, Arora allegedly orchestrated a large-scale financial fraud involving fake GST billing related to cell phone purchases and exports. Investigators said that bogus invoices worth Rs 100 crore were generated to fraudulently claim input tax credit (ITC) and export benefits.

The probe agency further alleged that the transactions were used to route funds obtained through illicit means from Dubai back into India, effectively ‘round-tripping’ money through export channels. Officials said Arora did not cooperate during the probe.

He will likely be produced before a local court, where the ED will seek custody for interrogating him further.

Second action against Arora in a month

Notably, this is the second major action against Arora within a month. Earlier, on April 17, 2026, the ED had conducted searches at locations linked to him under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Arora currently serves as an MLA from Ludhiana West and is considered a prominent figure within the Punjab unit of AAP.

AAP alleges political influence

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal responded to the arrest, accusing the Union Government of misusing probe agencies to target opposition leaders. He alleged that institutions such as the CBI and the ED were being used not to curb corruption, but to ‘break parties’ and pressure leaders into switching allegiance to the BJP.

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann also echoed similar concerns, calling Central agencies ‘Political weapons.’ He claimed that poll-bound states often witness heightened scrutiny and suggested that Punjab had now become a focus of such actions.