ED raids Punjab AAP MP’s residence in land ‘fraud’ case

Chandigarh, Oct 7 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out a raid at the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora in Ludhiana as part of a money laundering probe linked to a land ‘fraud’ case.

Official sources said the raid at Arora’s residence in Hampton Homes colony was in connection with a chunk of land that was allotted to him by the state government. “The land was allotted for an industrial project, but it was used for a residential project,” said an official.

The land was allotted to Ritesh Properties and Industries Limited, one of the companies owned by Arora, said the officials.

Raids are also underway at the premises of Hemant Sood of Ludhiana and Chander Aggarwal of Jalandhar, both directors of the company.

Arora in a tweet said, “I am a law-abiding citizen, am not sure about the reason for the search operation, will cooperate fully with agencies and make sure all their queries are answered.”

Condemning the raid, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said, “Since this morning, the ED has been raiding the house of Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. In the last two years, they have raided Arvind Kejriwal’s house, my house, Sanjay Singh’s house, Satyendar Jain’s house… Nothing was found anywhere. But (PM Narendra) Modi ji’s agencies are fully dedicated to filing fake cases one after the other.”

“These people will go to any extent to break the Aam Aadmi Party. But no matter how much they try, the people of the Aam Aadmi Party will neither stop, nor sell themselves, nor get scared,” Sisodia added.

Sources said an industrial plot was allotted to Arora during the Congress regime. He allegedly established a residential colony on the land and sell plots for financial gains.

–IANS

vg/uk