Mann slams Centre after ED's fresh searches against Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the Centre after the Enforcement Directorate ED on Saturday conducted fresh searches against Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using agencies like the ED and the CBI as weapons to meet their political ends.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the Centre after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted fresh searches against Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using agencies like the ED and the CBI as ''weapons'' to meet their political ends. Addressing a news conference in Sangrur, CM Mann alleged agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department are ''four to five weapons at the BJP's disposal that have been politicised''. ''For a long time, they have been using them for their politics. Be it Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal. Now, Punjab is on their target,'' Mann said. The ED on Saturday conducted fresh searches against Arora and some others allegedly linked to him as part of an investigation into a newly registered money laundering case, officials said. They said Arora's official residence in Chandigarh is among the five premises raided. The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said. In April, the ED had raided Arora and his linked entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Arora (62) is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from the Ludhiana West Assembly seat. Slamming the BJP-led Centre, Mann said, ''By conducting ED raids, their purpose is not to find any black money or any illegal document, their purpose is to convey to the person at whose premises the raid is carried out to join the BJP, and everything he has done will be forgiven.'' Mann said that last month, the ED's raids were carried out at business entities linked to Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal. ''A few days back raids continued for two days on Ashok Mittal's premises. But after he joined the BJP (along with six other AAP RS MPs), the raids ended and Mittal was honoured days later and granted 'Y' category security. What happened to the ED case then? This means politicisation of the ED,'' Mann said. Mann said ED's ''so-called'' searches against Arora were going on. ''This is the second time in one month and third in a year that they have come, but they found nothing earlier and even now they won't. They only come to convey that join the BJP, otherwise his businesses will be shut,'' Mann said. Mann alleged that the BJP-led Centre operates by instilling fear like this among the opponents and added that they may be able to do so in other states, but their tactics won't work in Punjab. ''I want to tell the BJP, Modi and Amit Shah very clearly that this is Punjab, it is not scared by such threats. Modi had to take U-turn and apologise over three farm laws. Maybe Modi is still harbouring that pain,'' he said. Earlier, Mann wrote in a post on X, ''Today, once again the BJP's ED has come to Arora's house. In one year, this is the third time the BJP's ED has come to his house. And in the last one month, the second time. Yet, they haven't found anything. ''I want to tell Modi ji that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue,'' said Mann in the in Hindi and Punjabi. Mann further said, ''This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British, so Punjab will never bow before Modi's tactics. The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab itself.'' Several other AAP leaders slammed the Centre over the ED searches. Punjab Finance Minister Hapral Singh Cheema alleged it is the BJP's design to send central agencies like the ED and CBI in the states ruled by the Opposition a few months before the elections to target political opponents. Cheema alleged that they also use tactics like ''vote deletion'' to ''loot the elections''. ''But the AAP government believes in the Constitution given by Dr B R Ambedkar. We will save the Constitution and the country's democracy,'' he said. Referring to the country's freedom movement, Cheema said the people of Punjab gave maximum sacrifices to see democracy in this country. ''No matter how many attacks the BJP may carry out, we will repel all their attacks,'' Cheema said.