Mohali: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Jaswinder Singh Randhawa, a retired general manager of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), in a money-laundering case over the alleged illegal allotment of industrial plots, Hindustan Times and Punjabi Tribune reported on Saturday, October 31. He was sent to ED custody till November 2.

Source: Hindustan Times / Punjabi Tribune via Jugti

Punjabi Tribune reported that the ED summoned Randhawa to its Jalandhar office on Thursday and arrested him there. He was produced on Friday before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mohali, which sent him to ED custody till November 2 for further questioning. Reports say the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had also arrested him earlier in the original case.

The Vigilance Bureau case behind the ED arrest

According to Hindustan Times, the ED case stems from an FIR registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on March 8, 2024, against six senior PSIEC officials. They are accused of abusing their positions and facilitating the illegal allotment of valuable industrial plots to relatives, friends and acquaintances, causing an alleged loss of Rs 8.73 crore to the state exchequer. Randhawa was formerly general manager (personnel) at the corporation, the Punjab government undertaking that develops industrial focal points and allots plots.

Rs 8.73 croreAlleged loss to the exchequer in the Vigilance Bureau case
Rs 4.01 croreTraced in Randhawa's bank accounts and frozen, according to reports
11Locations searched by the ED in August 2026
November 2ED custody of Randhawa runs till

Punjabi Tribune reported that the agency searched 11 locations of government and private individuals in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ludhiana on August 4 to 6, 2026, and that about Rs 4.01 crore was traced in Randhawa's bank accounts and frozen. The ED is probing the allegedly fraudulent allotment of at least a dozen industrial plots in Mohali and Amritsar since 2012, the paper said.

As described by Punjabi Tribune, the plots were allegedly sold to new allottees at market rates, while the corporation's records showed them being transferred at old allotment rates — that gap is at the heart of the alleged loss.

Allegations, not findings

These are the investigating agencies' allegations. They have not been proved in court, and the case is under investigation.

Randhawa's ED custody runs till November 2, after which he is expected to be produced before the court again. No further arrests have been reported so far.