Moga, Punjab — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted search operations at seven premises across Punjab linked to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora, in connection with the alleged fraudulent acquisition of government and institutional properties and alleged misappropriation of public funds in Moga district, officials told news agency ANI. The searches were underway on Wednesday morning.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer — Cheema accuses BJP after ED raids

According to officials cited by ANI, the premises covered included those associated with Arora — the Moga MLA and president of AAP's Punjab women's wing — her husband Dr Rakesh Arora, family members, associates and others, and also included a de-addiction hospital associated with Dr Rakesh Arora.

Two Moga residences searched from early morning

In Moga itself, ED teams searched the MLA's two residences early on Wednesday. The Unmute reported that officials from the agency's Delhi and Chandigarh units arrived at around 6 a.m., that the legislator was present at one of the locations, that central security personnel cordoned off both areas and that AAP supporters gathered outside. Senior Deputy Mayor of Moga Rakesh Kumar Bajaj, speaking to ANI at the spot, put the team's arrival earlier, at around 3 a.m., and said the main gate had been locked and no one was being allowed inside. The two arrival times come from different reports and are stated here as each source reported them.

Source: The Unmute — ED searches residences of Moga AAP MLA

"The team arrived at the MLA's residence around 3 o'clock. They aren't letting anyone inside; they have locked the place down. They aren't even allowing water or tea to be taken in," Bajaj told ANI. He said no reason for the search had been communicated to the party workers outside, and demanded that AAP representatives be allowed inside to witness the proceedings — allegations and claims made by a party office-bearer at the scene, reported here as his statement.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer — ED raids MLA's residence

The case officials described: FIR 101 and Highway 754A land

Officials told ANI that the ED had recorded an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on the basis of FIR No. 101, dated June 16, 2024, registered by Punjab Police. The FIR concerns the alleged fraudulent mutation of government land acquired for National Highway No. 754A and the alleged wrongful disbursement of compensation. These are allegations in a police case taken up by the ED; they have not been proved in court, and no arrest arising from Wednesday's searches was reported in any of the reports cited here. Earlier reports on Wednesday morning, including The Unmute's, noted that the ED had not at that stage issued a formal statement spelling out the case behind the searches.

AAP alleges targeting ahead of 2027; a minister responds

AAP leaders alleged political targeting. Bajaj alleged that pressure on the MLA had been building for the past five to seven days and that raids were being conducted where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not in power, with the intention, as he put it, of defaming the Punjab government; he expressed confidence that the MLA would emerge with a clean chit. Daily Kiran reported party associates alleging that the action was meant to pressure Arora to switch parties — an allegation, not an established fact. No BJP response to these allegations was carried in the reports cited in this article.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, speaking in Ludhiana on Wednesday while attending an inter-college youth festival at Punjab Agricultural University, accused the BJP-led central government of using central agencies such as the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during election periods, and alleged that such actions are carried out at the BJP's behest whenever elections approach in a state. His remarks, reported by ANI, are the AAP government's allegation; the ED's own public statement on the searches was still awaited in the reports cited here.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer — Cheema accuses BJP after ED raids

Why the timing matters in Punjab politics

The searches come at a charged moment in Punjab's run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections. AAP has already renominated Arora from Moga for 2027, and the action landed days after three sitting AAP MLAs resigned from the party and joined the BJP, a defection row in which AAP has said it will seek their disqualification. Cheema, in the same Ludhiana remarks, said AAP awards tickets on performance and commented on both the defections and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Sangrur rally the same day — underlining that Wednesday's ED action is already being fought over as election politics, well beyond the papers the agency was examining in Moga.