The Enforcement Directorate has Punjab Power Secretary-cum- Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) Basant Garg, its Director (Commercial) Harsharan Kaur Trehan for questioning in a money laundering case linked to arrested Punjab Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora, officials on Saturday said.The ED has also summoned Hemant Sood, who runs a financial investment and stockbroker company named Findoc Finvest Private Ltd. in Ludhiana, and Jalandhar-based businessman and alleged bookie Chandra Shekhar Aggarwal, to depose before it in Delhi beginning Monday (May 18).Sood and Agarwal were searched by the ED as part of a foreign exchange “violation” case against them and the minister.Arora, 62, was arrested by the ED on May 9 following raids at his premises in an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud case pertaining to mobile phone exports carried out through firms associated with him.Before he was arrested, Arora held Power, Industry and Commerce portfolios in the Bhagwant Mann-led Cabinet. Following his arrest, he gave up the portfolios but remains a minister.Sources said investigators are scrutinising files linked to power clearances, financial approvals and regulatory relaxations granted over the past several months.On Saturday, a letter issued by the PSPCL on April 15 also surfaced. The letter stated that the Power Minister (Arora at the time) has asked everyone to report to office at 5 am the next day (April 16). Former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia alleged that the staff was called and important files were taken from them that day.Story continues below this adSources in the ED said that the PSPCL officials are to be questioned over the return of bank guarantee worth about Rs 2 crore by the state power utility to a company purportedly linked to Arora.When contacted, Garg, a 2005-batch IAS officer, said, “ED has summoned the (PSPCL) records. We will provide the same”.The PSPCL had returned a bank guarantee worth nearly Rs 1.97 crore to Ritesh Properties and Industries Ltd (RPIL), a company associated with Arora’s family and later renamed as Hampton Sky Realty Limited (HSRL), without first obtaining the revised guarantee mandated under norms.This controversy pertained to the Hampton Court Business Park project in Ludhiana. The PSPCL had initially sanctioned a 66 KV power line against submission of a bank guarantee of around Rs 1.96 crore. When the developer later sought conversion to an 11 KV line, regulations required submission of a fresh guarantee before release of the earlier one. However, PSPCL issued a no-objection certificate for release of the original guarantee even before the revised one was deposited.Story continues below this adThe ED had said that Arora was arrested in Rs 100-crore money laundering and fake GST refund racket linked to mobile phone exports carried out through firms associated with him, particularly HSRL.According to the ED, Arora’s company allegedly created a network of shell firms and dummy suppliers to generate bogus purchase invoices for mobile phones without any actual supply of goods. These fake transactions were then allegedly shown as exports to overseas entities, mainly in the UAE, to claim fraudulent GST refunds from the government.The ED has alleged before a Gurgaon court that firms linked to Arora procured mobile phones worth over Rs 157 crore between May and October 2023 using fake invoices issued by shell entities that either did not exist physically or had negligible business activity. Many of these firms were allegedly non-filers of income tax returns, had suspended GST registrations, or lacked the financial capacity to conduct such large transactions.Investigators suspect that exports worth approximately Rs 102.5 crore were shown to UAE-based companies as part of a “round-tripping” operation, where money allegedly moved out of India and returned through layered financial channels to appear legitimate. The ED believes the transactions were designed to generate proceeds of crime and illegally claim GST refunds while concealing the origin of funds.Story continues below this adDuring court proceedings after Arora’s arrest, the ED further claimed that one of the shell companies allegedly used in the operation was registered in the name of a daily wage labourer with limited education and no financial means to run a high-value trading business. The agency alleged that this company alone routed nearly Rs 27 crore linked to the purported fake export business.A court in Gurgaon on Saturday extended by two days the Enforcement Directorate remand of Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in a Rs 100-crore money laundering case.Arora was produced before the court by the ED after the completion of his seven-day remand, officials said. The agency sought his custody for five more days, saying it needed to investigate the routing of funds through shell companies, the alleged purchase of benami properties, and examine multiple individuals linked to the case.But the District and Sessions Judge extended the custody by two days.Story continues below this adAccording to the ED, Arora purchased property worth crores in Gurgoan and was allegedly involved in suspicious financial transactions. The agency said the investigation has been underway for some time.The ED claimed that during searches at the minister’s premises, many important documents related to financial transactions and suspicious investments were recovered. Arora is being questioned based on these documents.The ED arrested Arora from his Chandigarh residence on May 9. Following his arrest, he was produced in the Gurgaon Sessions Court, which granted the agency his custody for a week.After completion of the remand period, the ED again produced him before the court on Saturday.Story continues below this adDuring the hearing, defence lawyers opposed the ED’s plea for further remand. The ED argued that although Arora had cooperated with the investigation, further custodial interrogation was required.Sources said the ED is now questioning the minister about his properties, bank accounts and suspicious transactions related to money laundering.The agency is also examining the management and investment of funds for the property he allegedly purchased in Gurgaon.