The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted fresh searches at six locations in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as part of the ongoing money laundering investigation involving Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora and others in an alleged ₹100-crore GST fraud case linked to the sale of mobile phones.ED officials entering the residence of contractor Amit Bajaj in Jalandhar on Tuesday. (HT)The ED stated that raids were underway in Ludhiana and Jalandhar in Punjab, and Bareilly and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. “The action is part of an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The raids covered both residences and business offices connected with individuals and entities under investigation in the case of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, a company linked to Arora,” it stated.Arora, 62, was arrested by the central agency on May 9 following day-long searches at his official residence in Chandigarh. He is currently in judicial custody.He was the minister for power, industry and commerce. After his arrest, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government had allocated his portfolios to other ministers.Jalandhar-based govt contractor, Ludhiana CA on ED radarOn Tuesday, federal agency teams from headquarters in New Delhi carried out raids at the residences and offices of Jalandhar-based Amit Bajaj, a contractor with the Punjab local government department, and his brother Inderjit Bajaj, a chartered accountant, in New Jawahar Nagar.The residence of Ludhiana-based chartered accountant Ankur Garg was also searched.Officials privy to the probe said Bajaj was a well-connected trader, enjoying proximity with top political leaders across party lines. He was recently seen attending official events of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Jalandhar.They said Garg was also considered to be a close associate of Sanjeev Arora and his partner Hemant Sood. In November 2020, Garg was arrested by the central GST department in connection with an alleged bogus billing racket involving transactions worth around ₹252 crore.Arora accused of fake mobile sales worth ₹157 croreThe ED alleged its case is against Gurugram-based company Hampton Sky Realty Ltd (HSRL), linked entities and Arora, who was the “beneficial owner and controller” of the company, along with his family members.According to ED, during the 2023-24 financial year, the company sold mobile phones worth ₹157.12 crore to several local and overseas entities, and Arora, as the chief managing director (CMD), was responsible for the company’s business conduct, which involved alleged illicit transactions.ED alleged that the company, in connivance with its directors, employees and linked persons, used a network of shell entities to “generate fake purchase invoices”, and to “show bogus sales and exports”.The agency further alleged that the funds were converted into legitimate investments through fake purchases from non-existing GST entities and invested in real estate via Arora’s companies.Reacting to the fresh raids, AAP national supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused ED of “harassing small Hindu traders in Punjab”.In a post on X, Kejriwal wrote, “The ED party is once again conducting raids on Hindu traders in Punjab today. The ED party is harassing small Hindu traders in Punjab. I appeal to all traders, there is no need to panic. The entire Punjab and the Punjab government are with you, we will all together confront the ED party.”Seconding his views, chief minister Bhagwant Mann wrote on X that Hindu traders of Punjab were the backbone of the state’s economic development, and their contribution to creating ‘Rangla Punjab’ was immense.“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,” he said.Hitting back, BJP state chief Kewal Singh Dhillon questioned why the AAP government was so troubled by action against corruption?“The central agencies are only doing their job as per the law. Instead of playing politics, the CM should provide traders protection from gangsters. Due to failure of the state government, the traders are shutting down their businesses and heading to states like UP and Haryana,” Dhillon claimed.Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment Pargat Singh said seeing AAP’s impending defeat in Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann had started playing politics of religion. “Punjab is known for inclusivity, brotherhood and communal harmony. The people of state have always opposed the politics of dividing people on the basis of religion for mere votes,” Pargat said.