Mohali, Sep 24 AAP workers protested at the GMADA office in Punjab’s Mohali on Thursday, where the Enforcement Directorate conducted a search operation as part of a money laundering investigation.
Some protesters allegedly damaged the windshield of an SUV belonging to ED officials and also deflated its tyres.
The protesting workers forced their way through police barricades and entered the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) complex despite the presence of Punjab police personnel.
The AAP workers, holding placards, laid siege to the GMADA office and protested against the ED’s search operation, with the ruling party in Punjab accusing the BJP-led Centre of misusing central agencies ahead of the state assembly polls.
The protesters, led by Punjab AAP working president Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi, raised slogans against the BJP-led Centre and the Enforcement Directorate. A heavy police force was deployed.
Several protesters jostled with policemen to force their way to go inside the GMADA office, but were stopped by the police. A few stones were also thrown, which damaged the window glass of the GMADA office.
Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma also reached the spot and reviewed the law and order situation.
The ED operation, which began on Tuesday, continued till Thursday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the ED conducted survey and search operations at the offices of Punjab’s GMADA in Mohali; IAS officer and Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Vikas Garg; and a Delhi-based realty company as part of a money laundering investigation.
The ED sleuths also searched a residence in Chandigarh where former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain often resides. Jain was not present when the ED reached the residence in Mohali Sector 39, and its officials broke open the locks to gain entry, sources said.
The agency also searched the residence of the nephew of Punjab minister Hardeep Singh Mundian in Sahnewal in Ludhiana on Wednesday.
Following the ED’s operations, Punjab’s ruling AAP accused the BJP of resorting to central agencies to intimidate Punjabis and AAP leaders and claimed that the saffron party has “lost political ground” in the state.
The Centre is trying to disrupt GMADA’s functioning and create hurdles for the Bhagwant Mann government’s welfare schemes, it said.
“The BJP is unable to stop the welfare schemes through political means, so attempts are now being made to create administrative pressure and obstacles. The people of Punjab will not allow these tactics to succeed,” the AAP said.
Central agencies cannot manufacture political support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in Punjab, the party said.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema lashed out at the Centre over the ED’s search operations in the state, accusing it of misusing probe agencies ahead of the state assembly polls.
Punjab will not be “intimidated, coerced or silenced”, he said, questioning the ED’s search operations.
(PTI News)
