Chandigarh: The governing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of operating as a political weapon and “BJP’s parrot“ to target the Punjab govt and AAP leadership.Addressing a news conference, AAP Punjab president Aman Arora and chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal dismissed the ED’s claims of cash-for-transfers involving officials linked to the chief minister’s office and intermediaries, hawala networks and real estate scams.Arora alleged the central agency was using “repeated letters, selective media leaks and unclear allegations to malign the AAP leadership instead of providing substantive evidence”.“The repeated communications sent by the ED to the Punjab DGP, including its latest letter seeking registration of an FIR under Section 66(2) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), reflected the desperation and frustration of the BJP-led Central govt. The Punjab Police had already written to the ED on Aug 28, seeking complete documentary and electronic evidence in support of the allegations.”The AAP’s counter comes even as Punjab Police on Wednesday asked the ED to send an official on Thursday with legible and complete evidence into the alleged cash-for-transfers racket, claiming that previous screenshots provided by the agency were unreadable and lacked necessary metadata. Police said an ED representative failed to meet with officials on Tuesday as scheduled. The ED countered that its officer was made to wait for hours at the AIG, Punjab, office before officials refused to receive physical files. “We have already shared all the material. They refused to take it by hand, so we have emailed to them and will apprise the court,” said an ED official.The ED on Tuesday submitted a 200-page affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana high court in connection with the alleged cash-for-transfers racket, arguing that Section 66(2) of PMLA mandates immediate police action on shared information without requiring prior verification or original chain-of-custody data. The ED had also attached WhatsApp chats and other materials related to alleged irregularities in the transfers, land deals, arms licences, tendering process and allegations of cash transfer through hawala and cash payment for travel and hotel.The ED’s money laundering investigation centres on alleged irregularities in projects by Altus Space Builders and Suntec City under the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (Gmada).Addressing land-use allegations tied to real estate developments, AAP Punjab president Arora said change of land use (CLU) approvals relating to the Altus project were granted six times under previous Congress and Akali-BJP administrations between 2000 and 2022, but not a single CLU was granted during the tenure of the AAP govt. He added that the AAP govt tightened regulations in 2025 to require developers to hold 100% land ownership. “The ED, CBI and other central agencies are functioning like the BJP-led govt’s parrots,“ Arora said, adding that primary police complaints behind the probe had already been quashed by the high court. “The layout plans had been changed multiple times between 2011 and 2025, with several such changes taking place under previous govts. If the ED believes these approvals and changes were illegal, it should investigate the entire chronology and not selectively target the AAP govt,” Arora said.He also accused the ED of “deliberately floating the names of AAP leaders”, including Sanjeev Arora, Lal Chand Kataruchak and himself, in the media “without establishing any wrongdoing”. He claimed “attempts are being made to reach him through his long-time friend Gaurav Dhir”.AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Dhaliwal alleged the conduct of the ED demonstrated that the agency was being used as a political instrument against the AAP. “We are not going to be afraid of these false cases. Just as truth prevailed in Delhi and false cases were exposed, truth will prevail in Punjab as well and the BJP’s conspiracies will be completely exposed.”
