AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of using central agencies for political purposes and alleged that the repeated ED actions in Punjab were aimed at intimidating the state leadership. Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar accused the Mann government of protecting corruption.The ED has been active in Punjab for over a month, during which seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs joined the BJP, two of whom were wanted by the agency.Sources said the ED searched the premises of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, promoted by Arora’s family, along with other addresses in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. The company issued a statement saying it “has full confidence in its established facts, the legal and constitutional framework of the country and the wisdom of the honorable judiciary”. Its statement said that when the “supplier-side” fraud was discovered, “the company itself approached the police as a complainant” and lodged an FIR (dated May 17, 2025) at the Ludhiana police station, adding that the company itself was a “victim”. It said its transactions have not caused “any current loss to the exchequer”.Arora’s arrest came after the ED searched his official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh.This is the third time this year that Arora has faced ED action. It first raided Arora’s premises in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects in Ludhiana. At that time he was a Rajya Sabha MP. AAP has fielded him in the Ludhiana West by-election in June 2025 to retain the seat after the death of MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi.A few weeks ago the agency had conducted searches under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, resulting in temporary attachment of assets worth over Rs 157 crore linked to Arora and Hampton Sky. Sources said the latest probe involves a case of “bogus” GST purchase of mobile phones worth Rs 100 crore and alleged “round-trip” export of illegitimate funds from Dubai to India.Reacting to Arora’s arrest, CM Mann said, “BJP has deep hatred towards Punjab…BJP’s polarization strategy will not work here. ED and CBI are being used as weapons to intimidate leaders of rival parties into joining BJP…” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Pratap Singh Bajwa said Arora’s arrest has exposed serious corruption allegations against the ruling party in Punjab. He also questioned the BJP-led central government and central agencies regarding the timing of these actions.