ED raids AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora, husband in Moga highway land fraud case

Moga. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tied Wednesday’s raids on Moga MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora to a money laundering case. The case involves government land in Moga that was allegedly shown as private land to claim compensation for National Highway 754A.

ED’s Chandigarh zonal office said its teams were searching seven premises across Punjab. These are linked to Arora, her husband Dr Rakesh Arora, their family members, associates and others. A de-addiction hospital associated with Dr Rakesh Arora is among the places searched.

The agency said the case concerns the “fraudulent acquisition of government and institutional properties and misappropriation of public funds” in Moga district. Its money laundering case is based on FIR No. 101, which Punjab Police registered on June 16, 2024. That FIR covers the fraudulent mutation of government land acquired for NH-754A and the wrongful release of compensation for it.

Arora, the AAP women’s wing president in Punjab, is the party’s candidate for Moga in 2027. AAP renamed her for the seat just four days ago, in its first list of 40 candidates on October 31.

Teams from Delhi and Chandigarh reached her Moga house and her flats at the Icon complex on the Moga-Ludhiana road in four vehicles before daybreak. CRPF personnel guarded the gates and Punjab Police were kept outside. The MLA was questioned inside her home.

The ED has not said whether it has seized any cash or documents. The searches were still on at the time of filing.

AAP cries pressure

Before the ED made the case public, AAP workers had gathered outside the MLA’s gate and raised slogans against the Centre.

“The team arrived at the MLA’s residence around 3 o’clock. They aren’t letting anyone inside. They aren’t even allowing water or tea to be taken in,” said Moga Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Kumar Bajaj. “They have even confined the MLA inside with them. We will emerge with a clean chit.”

AAP’s Moga city president Prem Chand Chakkiwala alleged the MLA was being asked to join the BJP, and that the raid followed. “The BJP is losing in Punjab. AAP is coming back to form the government,” he said.

Arora’s close associate Jagdev Singh said, “Both the Akali Dal and the BJP do not have a potential candidate to field from Moga, either jointly or separately.” Her aides pointed to former Jalalabad MLA Raminder Singh Awla, who left the Congress for the Shiromani Akali Dal on October 25.

Majithia brings in Mann

Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia called Arora a close confidante of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur.

“Those who have looted and plundered Punjab will have to answer for their actions!” he posted on X. He also took a swipe at “Guru Dokhi and his 92 disciples”. This was a jibe at Mann, whom the Akal Takht has declared anti-Guru, and at AAP’s 92 MLAs from 2022. In a cryptic line, he wrote that “the speed will also be checked soon”.

Land charges not new

This is not the first time Arora has faced land-related charges. In January 2024, the Punjab Lokpal issued her a show-cause notice on a complaint by her former PA, Harsh Aren. He alleged that she bought benami property, grabbed government land and extorted ₹25 lakh from a Dharamkot patwari. Arora called the charges a bid to tarnish her image.

A doctor by training, Arora holds an MBBS and an MD (Medicine) from Crimea State Medical University in Ukraine. She won Moga on her debut in 2022, defeating Congress’s Malvika Sood, sister of actor Sonu Sood. Her campaign line was “Moge di doctor dhee” (Moga’s doctor daughter).

Agencies close in on AAP

The case adds to central agency action against the Mann government in an election year. The ED arrested cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora on May 9. On October 6, the CBI searched the CM’s camp office in Chandigarh in a corruption case against his OSD, Rajbir Singh Ghuman, after a Punjab and Haryana High Court order.