ED’s Major Action Across Three States: Raids Conducted at 24 Locations from Punjab to Bengal

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a major, multi-state operation on Wednesday, conducting searches at 24 locations across Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal, and the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh region in connection with three separate cases. The investigations focus on the alleged misappropriation of compensation for government land, a ₹120 crore investment fraud, and alleged irregularities in the evaluation of answer scripts for the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission’s Group-I Main Examination.

ED Searches Premises Linked to Moga MLA

The ED’s Chandigarh regional office conducted searches at seven locations in Punjab. The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent mutation of government land—acquired for National Highway 754A in Moga district—and the subsequent wrongful disbursement of compensation. A case was registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR filed by the Punjab Police. The searches covered premises associated with Amandeep Kaur Arora—the Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab women’s wing president and MLA from Moga—as well as her husband, Dr. Rakesh Arora, and other family members and associates. A de-addiction center linked to Dr. Rakesh Arora was also searched.

Unearthing a ₹120 Crore Investment Fraud

In a separate operation, the ED’s Bhubaneswar office conducted raids at 10 locations across Odisha and West Bengal. This case involves ‘Kalpana Financial Services Private Limited’ and its director, Amit Mandal. It is alleged that approximately ₹120 crore was collected from individuals by promising them fixed monthly returns through investments in the stock market and other business ventures. Investors were promised a fixed monthly return ranging from approximately 3.5 to 7 percent. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating this matter based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing.

Investigation into irregularities in Public Service Commission examinations

In a separate operation, the ED’s Hyderabad office initiated searches at seven locations across Hyderabad and Secunderabad in Telangana, as well as in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the manual evaluation of answer scripts for the Group-I Main Examination conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission. It has come to light that a private entity was allegedly paid Rs 11,432,312 during this process.

The ED’s searches are being conducted at premises linked to the then-Commission Secretary P. Sitaramanjaneyulu; a private firm, Camsign Media Private Limited, and its Managing Director P. Madhusudhan Rao; Truegrader Services; Stone Media Advisory Services Private Limited (and its Managing Director, Akkella Peri Srinivas Rao); and Mahamankali Raghuram.

The Guntur-based 'Awasa Resort' (Hailand)—where the answer scripts were stored and the evaluation process took place—is also under scrutiny. Operations by the ED’s regional offices are currently underway. The agency is investigating the financial transactions, the alleged irregularities, and the roles played by the individuals involved in these cases.