ED summons AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora on November 25 in land fraud case

Chandigarh. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Moga MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora to appear at its Chandigarh office on November 25. Days earlier, the agency claimed that she and her husband helped divert more than ₹1 crore paid as compensation for highway land.

She has been asked to bring papers for the properties under probe. Arora heads AAP’s women’s wing in Punjab and is the party’s Moga candidate for the 2027 election. She has confirmed she received the summons.

The money laundering case is about ₹1,00,65,724 paid for government land in Adhraman village that was taken over for National Highway 754A. The ED alleges that revenue records were forged to show one Dilkhush Kumari as the owner and that the money was paid into her bank account. It also alleges that the MLA, her husband Dr Rakesh Arora and their associates helped move the money out.

Police have not been able to trace Dilkhush Kumari since the case was filed at Dharamkot police station in June 2024, and they believe she has left the country. Patwari Navdeep Singh is accused of forging the records. He spent over two years in jail before he got bail in July. Arora was not named in the police FIR.

“Offered a minister’s post”

Arora calls the case political vendetta. She alleged that during the raid, ED officials pressed her to join the BJP in return for a ministerial post. “I outright rejected this disgraceful offer,” she said. She added that the agency found no money.

On November 4, the ED searched seven places linked to the couple, including their home in Moga and a de-addiction centre run by her husband. The search at her house went on for about 36 hours.

The agency says it seized documents and electronic devices that point to benami deals. It alleges that fake records were used to transfer land in Moga to her relatives and associates. This includes Central and state government land, Municipal Corporation and Market Committee plots, and land of the United Church of Northern India Trust Association. The ED also suspects that unaccounted cash was used to buy a house in Moga.

Poll-time row

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the BJP uses central agencies whenever a state is heading to polls. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia called Arora a close confidante of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He said those who looted Punjab must answer for it.