Chandigarh, May 9 With the arrest of Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following a search operation at his official residence here in an alleged money laundering case, State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Sunil Jakhar accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of shielding corruption and defending individuals involved in alleged land-related scams.
Jakhar said that ED raids on the Punjab Minister are not aimed at targeting private individuals, but are actions against those accused of grabbing farmers' land through fraudulent means.
He claimed the investigations are focused on cases where land acquired from farmers at extremely low prices was later used to generate massive profits through illegal real estate activities.
In a statement here, the BJP leader said the issue is not limited to Ministers Aman Arora or Sanjeev Arora personally, but concerns the alleged misuse of Change of Land Use (CLU) permissions to illegally convert and exploit agricultural land.
After raids by the ED in Chandigarh and at five other premises linked to Industries Minister Arora, the central probe agency arrested him from his residence in connection with a money laundering case and took him to New Delhi where a case has been registered.
Referring to the Mohali case, Jakhar alleged that associates close to Cabinet Minister Aman Arora were involved in irregularities concerning 30 acres in Suntec City in Mohali and skimming nearly Rs 170 crore by under valuing the property.
He also alleged that in Ludhiana, another Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora's firm Hampton Sky Realty misused nearly 40 acres through fraudulent CLU approvals.
Jakhar claimed that land originally allotted for industrial purposes was allegedly diverted for residential colonies.
He said that if industries were never established on the land, it should have reverted to the farmers instead of being commercially exploited for huge profits.
According to the State BJP Chief, the Punjab government had originally acquired the land from farmers at very low prices under the promise of industrial development.
Taking a direct swipe at the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Jakhar said that if the Punjab government was truly "kattar imandar" it would have acted against the alleged corruption itself instead of defending those involved.
He accused the AAP-led Punjab leadership of portraying itself as helpless only after central agencies stepped in.
Jakhar accused the Chief Minister Mann of trying to shield aides by portraying them as victims.
He asked why corruption, once described by the Chief Minister as a "cancer", was now allegedly being protected by the same AAP government.
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