NEW DELHI/LUDHIANA, Apr 17: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at premises linked to Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora, his son and others in connection with a foreign exchange violation probe involving alleged insider trading and round-tripping of funds from the UAE.
Officials said 13 residential and official locations across Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurugram and Chandigarh were covered under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). These include properties linked to Arora, his real estate firm Hampton Sky Realty Ltd (formerly Ritesh Properties and Industries Ltd), and his son Kavya Arora, who heads the company.
The agency also searched premises of Ludhiana-based stock broker Hemanth Sood, who runs Findoc Finvest Private Ltd, and Jalandhar businessman Chandra Shekhar Aggarwal, alleged to be linked to betting operations.
ED teams carried out the searches with security provided by central paramilitary forces. Arora, 62, said he would cooperate with the investigation, stating on X that he was confident “the truth will prevail.”
This is not the first action against Arora, who was earlier searched in 2024 in a money laundering case related to alleged misuse of industrial land when he was a Rajya Sabha MP.
The latest action comes days after ED searches against AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal and his institutions in a separate FEMA case. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemned those searches, alleging political targeting of non-BJP governments ahead of Assembly elections.
According to officials, Arora’s real estate company is under scrutiny for alleged illegal land-use changes, inflated sales bookings to manipulate share prices, insider trading, and routing of illicit funds, including betting proceeds, from the UAE to India.
Investigators allege Sood partnered with Arora in routing funds and facilitating insider trading, and also assisted hawala and betting operators in bringing money into India through the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) route.
Aggarwal, described as a former cricket bookie, is accused of running a betting platform called “Khiladi Book” that allegedly defrauded thousands. Funds generated from these operations were allegedly routed back into India via Findoc and invested in real estate ventures linked to Arora.
Officials further said companies associated with Arora are also being examined for allegedly generating fake export bills and bogus GST-linked purchases. (Agencies)
