Jalandhar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches against AAP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Kumar Mittal and educational institutions promoted by him and his family in Punjab and Haryana as part of a FEMA probe, officials said.
At least 10 locations in Jalandhar, its nearby areas and Gurugram are being covered under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), they said.
The development comes days after Mittal was appointed as the AAP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha on April 3, replacing Raghav Chadha after the latter fell out of favour with the party leadership.
The teams of the federal agency reached these locations around 7am on Wednesday morning and the search operation is still on till filing of the report.
The raids were being carried out at the campus of Lovely Professional University at Phagwara and residences of Mittal and his relatives in Jalandhar Cantonment and city areas, Lovely autos, Lovely Sweets, Lovely Distance Education Centre, all entities of the Lovely Group owned by the Rajya Sabha member and his brothers Ramesh Mittal and Naresh Mittal.
“The central headquarters investigation unit, New Delhi, is conducting searches in the LPU in Jalandhar and Tetr College of Business and Masters Union College of Business in Gurugram,” an ED official said, adding that residential premises of Mittal are also being covered in searches.
Mittal is the founder and chancellor at LPU and owns the university alongwith his brothers Ramesh Mittal, chairman of the Lovely Group and vice-chairman Naresh Mittal.
“The federal agency has sought no assistance from the local police,” an official told HT.
Mittal, his associates and his public relations team could not be contacted as their mobile phones were switched off.
The ED is yet to issue a formal statement in this regard.
AAP raises questions over timing of raids
Reacting to the ED raids, the AAP leadership flayed the BJP-led central government, terming the move as an “act of intimidation”.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal vowed a strong response to the ED action and said: “Modi ji has started preparations for the elections in Punjab. But the people of Punjab will not tolerate this. They will give a befitting reply to the BJP.”
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann also criticised the move: “ED raids at the home and university of AAP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal. typical Modi style.”
Quoting a well-known couplet in the same post, the CM wrote, “Hum vo patte nahin, jo shakh se tut kar gir jayenge. Andhiyon ko keh do apni aukaat mein rahen” (We are not leaves that will fall off the branch; tell the storms to remain within their limits).” Punjab Assembly elections are due early next year.
Reacting to Mann’s post, Union minister of state for railways and food procession Ravneet Singh Bittu said: “The people of Punjab are filing cases against state’s ministers and investigation agencies are catching your MPs. Modi ji’s policy is to clean India and all the dirt will be cleaned under it.”
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said though he doesn’t have specific information about the case, but people already knew that with elections approaching in Punjab, something like this would happen. “The agencies, as many believe, favour the BJP. However, there are many questions over such agencies and institutions,” he added.
While Raghav Chadha’s removal from the key Rajya Sabha post threw open the frictions within the party, Mittal had said that the development was routine. “Raghav Chadha is our senior leader and will continue to remain so. I have taken over from him just as he took over from ND Gupta earlier. The AAP is a democratic party and believes in giving opportunities to different leaders to raise important issues,” Mittal had said.
Second Punjab AAP leader to face ED action
Mittal is the second AAP leader to face the ED action. On November 6, 2023, the ED arrested party MLA from Amargarh Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case registered against him in 2022.
In September 2022, an ED team had raided Gajjanmajra’s house besides a school and a cattle feed factory run by his family at Amargarh.
The ED had registered the PMLA case against him after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had searched his properties in connection with a ₹40.92-crore bank fraud case last year. A sum of ₹16.57 lakh, 88 foreign currency notes and incriminating documents were recovered during the searches, the CBI had said.
