ED summons PSPCL CMD, director in Sanjeev Arora probe
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Punjab power utility chief Basant Garg, senior official Harsharan Kaur Trehan and two others in a money laundering probe linked to arrested Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora. The investigation concerns an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud case
New Delhi/Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned IAS officer and CMD of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL) Basant Garg, its Director (Commercial) Harsharan Kaur Trehan and two alleged associates of arrested Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora for questioning in a money laundering case, officials said on Saturday.
They said the two officers, apart from Hemant Sood, who runs a financial investment and stockbroker company named Findoc Finvest Private Ltd. in Ludhiana, and Jalandhar-based businessman and alleged bookie Chandra Shekhar Aggarwal, have been asked to depose before the central agency in Delhi beginning Monday (May 18).
The summonses have been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Arora, 62, was arrested by the ED on May 9 from his official residence in Chandigarh after raids were carried out against him in an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud case linked to the sale of mobile phones.
Arora was the minister for Power, Industry and Commerce. After his arrest, the Bhagwant Mann-led government had allocated his portfolios to other ministers. On Saturday, a court in Gurugram extended the minister’s ED custody by two days. Arora was produced before the court by the ED after the completion of his seven-day remand.
The agency sought his custody for five more days, saying it needed to investigate the routing of funds through shell companies, the alleged purchase of benami properties, and examine multiple individuals linked to the case, according to officials. But the District and Sessions Judge extended the custody by two days, they said. The AAP politician has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging his arrest by the ED.
