The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, conducted search operations at 14 locations in Punjab and Chandigarh on November 2 and 3, 2026, in connection with a money laundering investigation against former Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora, his son Partek Arora and their associates.
The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and covered residential premises, Shiam Hospital in Hoshiarpur and locations linked to several real estate companies, including SRG Builders and Promoters, GRG Developers and Promoters LLP, and Gulmohar Township India Pvt Ltd.
According to the ED, the investigation originated from an FIR registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Sunder Sham Arora for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The agency stated that Arora had allegedly offered a ₹1 crore bribe to a senior Vigilance Bureau officer to settle the investigation. He was arrested red-handed on October 15, 2022, at Zirakpur while allegedly handing over ₹50 lakh in cash as an advance payment.
The ED investigation has revealed alleged irregularities involving high-value industrial plots transferred during Arora’s tenure as Industries and Commerce Minister from March 2017 to September 2021 and the agency alleged that Arora exercised direct control over the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) and extended undue favours to private real estate players.
One of the plots under investigation is Industrial Plot A-32, Phase 8, Mohali, originally allotted by PSIEC to JCT Electronics, which subsequently went bankrupt and the plot was transferred to GRG Developers and Promoters LLP through an auction conducted by ARCIL in February 2020 for ₹90.56 crore.
According to the ED, PSIEC was entitled to 50% of the sale value as unearned increase, along with lease dues and transfer fees. However, these payments were allegedly not fully made. Despite the cancellation of a tripartite agreement between PSIEC, ARCIL and GRG in August 2021, the agency alleged that no steps were taken to cancel the lease or resume possession and the ED further alleged that Arora was directly involved in post-facto approvals concerning unearned increase calculations and enhanced fees.
The investigation reportedly found that the plot was subdivided and sold to third parties before possession and necessary approvals from PSIEC and RERA were obtained and the agency alleged that this defeated the purpose of allotting industrial land and generated proceeds through the subdivision and sale of plots.
The ED also found that Partek Arora acquired a 35% shareholding in SRG Builders and Promoters Pvt Ltd in September 2020. The company was linked to Deepak Garg and Devi Dayal Garg, who were also associated with GRG Developers and Promoters LLP.
Further investigation revealed that Gulmohar Township India Pvt Ltd began payments to Signify Innovations India Ltd in August 2020, including ₹27.5 crore before the Agreement to Sell was executed on October 23, 2020, when the mandatory PSIEC NOC had allegedly not been obtained.
Bank analysis reportedly showed that approximately ₹28.65 crore was transferred to the company between August 2020 and February 2021 by Sanjeev Kumar Juneja, an associate of Jagdeep Singh, director of Gulmohar Township India Pvt Ltd.
The ED stated that further investigation is underway.
