GURUGRAM, May 10 — A special court in Gurugram on Sunday remanded Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora to seven-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate following his arrest in a multi-crore money laundering case. The central agency had sought a 10-day remand to question the Minister regarding his alleged involvement in a fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) scheme involving the export of mobile handsets.
ED officials stated that the investigation pertains to the generation of fake purchase invoices worth over ₹100 crore from non-existent firms based in Delhi. The agency asserted that these transactions were allegedly used by Arora’s associated entities to claim wrongful Input Tax Credit (ITC) and GST refunds. During the court proceedings, the agency noted that coordinated searches across Chandigarh, Delhi, and Gurugram have provided evidence of “round-tripping” funds through international markets.
Defense counsel for the Minister maintained that the arrest is “politically motivated,” asserting that the case was registered only days prior to the search operation. The Aam Aadmi Party stated that the central government is using federal agencies as weapons to target opposition leadership in Punjab. Meanwhile, Hampton Sky Realty Limited, a firm linked to Arora, declared in a statement that it has full faith in the judiciary and is cooperating with the ongoing probe.
