A special court in Chandigarh has remanded Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seven days in connection with a ₹100-crore (approximately $12 million USD) GST fraud case. The court deemed the allegations against Arora, a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and MLA from Ludhiana West, as “very serious.” The ED arrested him following searches at his residence and other locations linked to his business interests, including the corporate offices of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, where he is a director. The agency claims that Arora was non-cooperative during the investigation, which focuses on alleged fake GST purchases of mobile phones and the laundering of illicit funds from Dubai. The AAP has criticized the arrest as politically motivated, marking the first instance of a sitting minister in the Punjab government being taken into custody by the ED. The investigation is ongoing, with the ED indicating that further questioning may be necessary.