AAP Minister’s ED Case: Two Punjab Officers Summoned to Delhi; IAS Garg, Businessmen and Woman Director Also Called

May 18, 2026

After the arrest of Punjab government minister Sanjeev Arora in a money laundering case, the ED’s investigation has now reached officials. The ED has summoned a total of 5 people, including 3 officers from two departments.

Among them, Gamada chief Sandeep Kumar appeared at the Jalandhar ED office today. The staff who came with him brought several files. Meanwhile, the remaining people have to appear in the Delhi ED office. All were summoned along with the necessary records.

Meanwhile, after the two-day remand ended today, the ED presented Sanjeev Arora in the Gurugram court. Additionally, there is a hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the petition challenging Arora’s arrest and remand, where the ED will file its response.

These officers are stuck with the minister

The ED Jalandhar zonal office has summoned the Chief Administrator of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in a money laundering case. The summons was sent by the Jalandhar office’s Assistant Director Akshay Kumar.

The ED has sought records related to real estate projects in New Chandigarh. Raids had taken place at the residences of several prominent builders associated with these projects on May 8 and 9. In addition, the ED has also ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PowerCom) Chairman-cum-Managing Director Basant Garg to appear. Besides this, PowerCom’s Director (Commercial) Harsharan Kaur Trehan and business partners Hemant Sood and Chandrashekhar have also been summoned.

What charges were faced by those summoned by the ED

Basant Garg and Harsharan Kaur: According to media reports, the names of PSPCL CMD Basant Garg (IAS) and Powercom Director (Commercial) Harsharan Kaur Trehan have emerged in the controversy related to the alleged benefits given to the company Ritesh Properties and Industries Limited associated with former minister Sanjeev Arora.

The company had applied to change the voltage of its electricity supply. After that, the company wrote a letter on February 2 to return an old bank guarantee of about 1.97 crore rupees. It is alleged that Powercom issued the old guarantee the next day, February 3, without obtaining a new revised bank guarantee.

The ED is now investigating whether the commercial department of Powercom, under pressure or collusion from then Electricity Minister Sanjeev Arora, bypassed regulations to provide financial benefits to the company.

Businessmen Hemant Sood and Chandrashekhar Agrawal: The ED has also issued summons to Ludhiana-based financial investor Hemant Sood, who is said to be the head of Findoc Finvest, and Jalandhar-based businessman Chandrashekhar Agrawal. Both are considered close associates and business partners of Arora.

According to the ED, Sanjeev Arora faces allegations of owning unaccounted wealth worth crores of rupees and purchasing land in Gurugram. The investigative agency suspects that these two businessmen may have played a role in alleged illegal financial transactions, fund routing through shell companies, and management of suspicious investments.

Gamadda’s CA Sandeep Singh also summoned: The ED has also summoned Gamadda’s CA Sandeep Singh. However, no direct allegations against him have come to light so far. According to sources, he is to be questioned regarding the records of files related to CLU (Change of Land Use) approvals in Gamadda.

What has happened in the Sanjeev Arora case so far

Suspicion of fraud (May-October 2023): Sanjeev Arora’s company HSRL was accused of selling mobile phones worth ₹157.12 crore on paper and fake exports worth ₹102 crore in Dubai. ED suspected fund routing and money laundering.
ED’s first action (April 2026): Suspecting irregularities in foreign transactions and export documents, ED conducted its first raid at the premises of Arora and HSRL under FEMA.
Money laundering case filed (5 May 2026): After the disclosure of wrong GST input tax credit (ITC) being claimed through shell companies in Delhi, ED filed a new case under PMLA against Sanjeev Arora and three others.

Encirclement and Arrest (9 May 2026): The ED conducted simultaneous raids at five locations in Chandigarh, Delhi, and Gurugram. After a lengthy interrogation at the government residence in Sector-2, Chandigarh, Sanjeev Arora was officially arrested in the evening.

7-Day Remand and Political Upheaval (10 May 2026): After a late-night hearing in the special court of Gurugram, Arora was sent to 7 days of ED remand. The arrest sparked political turmoil in Punjab; AAP called it political revenge, while BJP described it as action against corruption.

Challenge in High Court (12 May 2026): Sanjeev Arora’s son, Kavya Arora, approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, claiming the arrest was illegal. It was alleged that the ED handed over a pre-prepared ‘arrest grounds’ document of 17 pages in just 35 minutes.

Remand extended, crackdown tightened on officials (16-17 May 2026): The court extended the ED’s remand by 2 more days. Meanwhile, expanding the scope of the investigation, the ED issued summons to PSPCL’s CMD Basant Garg, Powercom’s Director Harsharan Kaur Trehan, GMADA officials, and businessmen like Hemant Sood and Chandrashekhar Agarwal.