The central agency had searched the premises of the 42-year-old Moga MLA, her husband Rakesh Arora and a hospital-cum-de-addiction centre linked to them on November 4.
New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday alleged that searches conducted against Punjab AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora had revealed her and her husband's involvement in facilitating the diversion of compensation funds paid by the government to people whose land was acquired for highway construction.
Arora, however, accused the BJP of political vendetta, alleging that during the 42-hour ED search at her residence, she was repeatedly pressured to join the BJP in exchange for a ministerial position.
The central agency had searched the premises of the 42-year-old Moga MLA, her husband Rakesh Arora and a hospital-cum-de-addiction centre linked to them on November 4.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered at Dharamkot police station in Moga over alleged manipulation of revenue records relating to government land in Adhraman village. The alleged irregularities resulted in wrongful disbursement of compensation exceeding ₹1 crore for land acquired for the construction of National Highway 754A.
The ED said its investigation had uncovered the "fraudulent" acquisition and transfer of several government, municipal and charitable properties.
"These properties were allegedly acquired or transferred in favour of the MLA's relatives and other associated persons through manipulation of revenue records and execution of property documents," the ED said in a statement.
The agency alleged that the MLA, her husband and other associates were involved in facilitating the diversion and siphoning of compensation funds.
The properties under scrutiny included 13 marlas of Central government land at Zira Road, seven marlas of Punjab government land at Civil Lines, six marlas of Market Committee land at Railway Road and three kanals and 16 marlas of Municipal Corporation land at Moga Mehla Singh-3.
They also included 52 marlas and eight sarsahis of land belonging to the United Church of Northern India Trust Association, the agency said.
The ED claimed that searches had led to the recovery of "incriminating" documents, electronic devices and other evidence indicating the alleged acquisition of benami properties by the MLA and her associates.
Speaking to reporters, Arora maintained that despite extensive searches at her residence and hospital, the ED had failed to recover any money and returned empty-handed.
Arora, who is also president of the AAP Women's Wing in Punjab, has been renominated by the party from the Moga constituency for the Assembly elections expected early next year.
