AAP alleges Centre misusing agencies ahead of assembly polls amid ED searches in Punjab

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema accused the Centre of misusing central probe agencies ahead of assembly polls, following ED searches at GMADA offices and other locations. He said Punjab would not be intimidated, while AAP workers protested against the operations

Chandigarh: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday lashed out at the Centre over the Enforcement Directorate’s search operations in the state, accusing it of misusing probe agencies ahead of the state assembly polls.

Punjab will not be “intimidated, coerced or silenced”, he said, questioning the ED’s search operations at the offices of Punjab’s Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in Mohali and other places.

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AAP workers on Thursday staged a protest outside the GMADA office and raised slogans against the Union government.

Speaking to reporters here, FM Cheema said the BJP has been “misusing” the ED, CBI, the Election Commission, and the Income Tax Department since 2014.

States where elections are due, the BJP-led central government sends the ED, CBI and the I-T Department by misusing them, he alleged.

He alleged that it happened in Delhi, where “fake cases” were registered against the top AAP leadership, and in West Bengal ahead of the assembly polls .

Wherever opposition parties have governments, they are targeted with an intention of finishing them, he alleged.

Now that assembly elections are drawing closer in Punjab, ED raids have intensified across the state, he added.

“Action is being taken at the homes of AAP leaders, workers and officials. These are not just raids. They raise serious questions about the misuse of central agencies. Punjab has never bowed to intimidation, and it never will, he said.

The ED on Tuesday conducted survey and search operations at the offices of GMADA in Mohali; IAS officer and Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Vikas Garg; and a Delhi-based realty company as part of a money laundering investigation.

The operation continued on Wednesday as well, with the ED sleuths conducting a search operation at a residence in Chandigarh where former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain often resides. Jain was not present when the ED reached the residence in Sector 39 here and its officials broke open the locks to gain entry, sources said.

The agency also searched the residence of the nephew of Punjab minister Hardeep Singh Mundian in Sahnewal in Ludhiana on Wednesday.