New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday swooped down on 13 premises, including the residence of Punjab’s powerful cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora in Ludhiana, as part of a probe into alleged violations of provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Apart from Sanjeev, Arora’s son Kavya and their family firm Hampton Sky Realty were also covered in the searches, as well as premises linked to their business partners Hemanth Sood and Chandra Shekhar Aggarwal, sources in the ED told ThePrint.
The sources said Aroras’ firm has come under the scanner over discrepancies in the change of land use in Punjab, inflated sales bookings to boost share prices, alleged insider trading in the stock market, along with round-tripping of funds and routing of illegal money from the UAE to India through the foreign portfolio investment route.
Hampton Sky Realty is listed on the stock exchange.
A former member of the Rajya Sabha, Sanjeev was assigned key portfolios, including Industry, Investment Promotion, and NRI Affairs, right after his induction into the Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet in Punjab. He was further elevated to the power department within a month of assuming office.
The ED action against Arora and others comes two days after raids were conducted against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of Lovely Group, Ashok Kumar Mittal.
On Friday morning, Sanjeev posted on X that “as a responsible citizen, I will fully cooperate with the agencies and I am confident that the truth will prevail”.
Good Morning! An action by the Enforcement Directorate took place at my premises. As a responsible citizen, I will fully cooperate with the agencies and I am confident that the truth will prevail.
— Sanjeev Arora (@SanjeevArora_PB) April 17, 2026
Senior AAP leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, addressed a press conference on the ED action and said the AAP was being targeted by the probe agency because of its rapid growth across the country and refusal to bow to pressure.
“A few days ago, our Punjab (MP) Ashok Mittal was raided by the ED. He runs Lovely Professional University where more than 40,000 students are getting education which includes students from more than 35 countries. Since, he is a Rajya Sabha MP from the AAP, suddenly he became tainted,” Mann told a press conference as raids were being conducted against Arora.
“Today, raids are going on at Sanjeev Arora’s premises. He is our Power, Local Bodies and Industries Minister. Today, he too has become tainted.”
Also Read: What’s the Gurugram land deal case in which ED has summoned Robert Vadra
ED charges against Aroras
Sources in the probe agency said that Sanjeev Arora took assistance from business partner Sood, who runs a stock broking company named Findoc Finvest, for round tripping of ill-gotten funds from the UAE.
They said he partnered with Sood to generate proceeds of crime through insider trading via his firm which has offices in Ludhiana, Gurugram and GIFT City in Gujarat.
Sources further said that Sanjeev, with Sood’s aid, also helped Aggarwal, a Jalandhar-based betting operator and businessman who started a betting business named Khiladi Book. The platform also surfaced in ED’s probe into the illegal operations of Mahadev betting application.
“Aggarwal’s proceeds of crime parked in the UAE were routed through Sood’s firm Findoc and invested in real estate through Sanjeev Arora,” an ED official said.
“Sanjeev Arora is suspected to have been giving protection to the illegal betting operators in Punjab, through his political influence, to get a share of their profits, and also using his companies and multiple operators to convert their unaccounted money into legitimate investments and thereby actively assisting in money laundering,” the official added.
According to ED officials, the Aroras’ companies have also come under the scanner for suspected fake export bills and for booking fake purchases through firms with non-existent GST registration numbers.
Arora and his firms, including Hampton Sky Realty, had earlier faced action by the ED in a money laundering case in October 2024, when the agency raided their premises as part of a probe into alleged fraudulent change of use of land allotted by the Punjab government for industrial purposes.
The agency had claimed that the entities, including Hampton Sky Reality and Royal Industries, were allotted industrial land by the Punjab government with certain conditions, but the firms wrongfully sold the land by breaching the conditions of allotment and without the government’s approval.
“ED investigation further revealed that M/s Hampton Sky Reality (erstwhile Ritesh Properties Industries Limited) alienated the land use without permission of the Punjab Government, and later on developed a residential project and business park on the said land by concealing material facts at the time of seeking permission of the Punjab Government for the project. By all these wrongful activities, M/s RPIL and M/s RIL caused loss to Punjab government and generated huge Proceeds of Crime,” an agency spokesperson had said in October 2024.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Vadra in dock, but court nudges ED for ‘thorough investigation’ against DLF in Shikohpur land case