Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Centre of “harassing traders” after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids in a money laundering case linked to Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora.
Reacting to the searches, Mann defended the trading community and alleged that central agencies were being misused for political purposes.
"Hindu traders from Punjab are the backbone of our state's economic development and have made a significant contribution to building 'Rangla Punjab'," Mann said in a post on X in Hindi.
Stepping up his attack on the BJP, often referred to by the AAP as the “ED party”, Mann said, "The ED party wants to harass our traders by misusing central agencies. By doing so, they are attempting to coerce them into joining their fold through political pressure - something Punjabis will absolutely not tolerate. We stand with our traders".
The ED on Tuesday conducted fresh searches in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud linked to mobile phone sales. Officials said raids were carried out at around six locations across Jalandhar and Ludhiana in Punjab, and Bareilly and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
Arora, 62, was arrested by the central agency last month following extensive searches at his official residence in Chandigarh and is currently in judicial custody.
A prominent Hindu face of the AAP in Punjab and a Ludhiana-based industrialist, Arora held the Power, Industry and Commerce portfolios before his arrest. The Punjab government later reassigned his departments to other ministers.
(With inputs from PTI)