Enforcement Directorate Raids Punjab Development Authority in Major Land Probe

The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority headquarters in Mohali, lasting for more than 50 hours starting Tuesday and ending on Thursday. The investigation stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation case involving an alleged bank fraud by Tirupati Infra Projects, which later led the central agency to examine GMADA's land deals and potential losses. During the marathon operations, ED personnel questioned eight senior GMADA officials, cloned mobile phones, scanned computers and servers, and seized electronic devices and documents. The agency has alleged a potential loss of nearly Rs 10,000 crore to GMADA and the Punjab government, claiming that reserve prices of unsold land were deliberately reduced before auctions. Investigators also examined issues involving land acquisition awards, compensation, reallotment of cancelled plots, and concessions to private developers. One specific transaction under scrutiny involves Remigate Infra Developers, where statutory dues and penal interest were allegedly waived to benefit the company by an amount between Rs 40 crore and Rs 57 crore. Material recovered from seized phones also reportedly contained conversations about hawala transactions involving relatives of certain Punjab politicians. The probe has drawn in high-ranking political figures from Delhi. The ED has alleged that former Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain held regular unofficial meetings with GMADA officials to discuss master plans, fresh auctions, land acquisition, and compensation. According to the agency, these meetings took place at a government bungalow in Sector 39, Chandigarh, allotted to Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board chairman Sunny Singh Ahluwalia, with involvement from Jain's OSD Amarender Jha. Satyendar Jain serves as the AAP's Punjab co-incharge, while Manish Sisodia has also overseen the party's affairs in the state. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has strongly rejected the allegations as baseless and politically motivated, accusing the Centre of using investigative agencies against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's government ahead of the state assembly elections due in February 2027. The AAP also approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to complain that its officials were being detained, prompting the court to appoint a warrant officer to check the premises, though officials told the officer they were not illegally detained or pressured. The party further questioned the basis of the action, noting there was no FIR or predicate offence against GMADA. Meanwhile, opposition leaders have reacted sharply. BJP leader and former Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu stated that the action proved the Mann government's claims are limited to advertisements, while Congress Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal have demanded thorough investigations into the decisions and potential losses.