Sanjeev Arora, 62, is a sitting Aam Aadmi Party legislator representing the Ludhiana West Assembly constituency in Punjab. According to official sources, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at four premises connected to Arora and his business entities under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The raids were carried out in Chandigarh and across the Delhi-National Capital Region. Following the searches, Arora was taken into custody from his official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh.
Officials confirmed that this marks the third Enforcement Directorate action against Arora in 2026. Similar searches were conducted earlier in April and again at the beginning of this month, indicating that the investigation has been intensifying over the past several weeks.
The arrest immediately sparked a strong reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party leadership. Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that central agencies are being used as political instruments to intimidate opposition leaders.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said that the people of Punjab are deeply angered by the repeated raids. He warned that aggressive political tactics would backfire and predicted severe electoral consequences for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
“A Punjabi will give you everything he has out of love, but if you shove him around, he will hit back with full force. Modi ji, go ahead and conduct four Enforcement Directorate raids. The Bharatiya Janata Party's deposits on all its seats will be forfeited. The leaders you arrest will be released within four days, but the Bharatiya Janata Party will not be in a position to set foot in Punjab for the next twenty years,” Kejriwal wrote.
The arrest of a serving cabinet minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has significantly escalated the political tension between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. As the Enforcement Directorate investigation moves forward, the case is expected to have far-reaching legal and political implications, particularly in Punjab where the confrontation between state and central leadership continues to intensify.
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