Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's cousin joins BJP

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 11 : Gyan Singh Mann, cousin of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday in the presence of Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar.

This development comes after the trio of MPs - Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal - parted ways with the AAP last month and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership. Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal had also merged with the BJP later.

Following the merger, major political developments have taken place in Punjab with Bhagwant Mann alleging that the BJP has been using central investigative agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax Department, against political rivals.

His remarks came after the ED carried out raids on Saturday at multiple locations linked to Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an ongoing alleged Rs 100 crore money laundering probe.

"For the past few years, Punjab has been experiencing the BJP's way of working. BJP has weapons of ED, CBI and Income Tax, which it has been using. And now, Punjab is on the BJP's target. Currently, ED is raiding Sanjeev Arora's premises," Mann said.

The ED has arrested Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an ongoing Rs 100 crore money laundering investigation linked to alleged fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) transactions, officials said.

Arora's arrest came after a day-long search operation carried out across multiple locations associated with him and his business entities. The raids were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

According to officials, ED teams initiated coordinated searches early on Saturday at five premises spread across Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh. Of these, four locations were directly linked to Arora and his associated entities, while one office premises belonged to Hampton Sky Realty Limited, which is also under the agency's scanner in the case.

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