BJP, AAP two sides of same coin; both use arm-twisting tactics to intimidate opponents: Cong

The remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate ED on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora following a series of raids in connection with a Rs 100 crore money laundering probe linked to alleged fraudulent GST transactions. The ED on Saturday arrested Sanjeev Arora in connection with a new money laundering case involving him and several entities allegedly linked to the Punjab industries minister, officials said.

The Congress on Saturday alleged that the BJP and AAP were two sides of the same coin as both use arm-twisting tactics to intimidate their political opponents. Speaking on the sidelines of a party meeting here, Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel, alleged that while the BJP uses Central agencies like the ED at the national level, the AAP uses the Vigilance Bureau against its political opponents in the state. The remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora following a series of raids in connection with a Rs 100 crore money laundering probe linked to alleged fraudulent GST transactions. Commenting on the arrest, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring pointed out that earlier, the ED raided AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, and the next day, he joined the BJP. ''The AAP misuses the vigilance and police against its political opponents in Punjab, and the BJP is now doing the same to them. The AAP has met its match in the BJP,'' Warring said. ''However, the people of Punjab will not get carried away or misled by such games; they will only trust those who governed and administered Punjab well in the past. The Congress will neither be intimidated by the BJP's ED, nor the AAP's vigilance bureau,'' he said. Each Congress worker was prepared for the decisive battle in next year's Punjab polls, Warring added. The ED on Saturday arrested Sanjeev Arora in connection with a new money laundering case involving him and several entities allegedly linked to the Punjab industries minister, officials said. Arora (62) was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following early morning raids at his official residence in Chandigarh. He was ''non-cooperative'' during the investigation and will be taken to Delhi, the officials said. The ED conducted searches at five locations across northern India, including two premises in Delhi and a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Gurugram. The raids followed after the central agency registered a new case under the criminal sections of the PMLA, the officials said. On April 17, the ED raided Arora and his linked entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.