Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrests AAP MLA Raman Arora in connection with a corruption case following raid at his residence
AAP MLA from Jalandhar Central, Raman Arora, was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (PVB) on Friday (23rd May) in connection with a corruption case after raiding his house in the morning. He was arrested after 8 hours of interrogation. The case also reportedly involves Sukhdev Vashisht, former assistant town planner (ATP) of the municipal corporation who was arrested last week.
Days before Arora’s arrest, his security cover of 14 police personnel was withdrawn by the Punjab government on 12th May. Ironically, he has been holding anti-corruption drives in Punjab. In the preceding three years, Arora is the third AAP MLA to face corruption charges.
Interestingly, the Aam Aadmi Party posted on X taking credit for taking action against its own MLAs facing serious corruption charges. The party said that Arora used to extort money from common people by sending them false notices in connivance with officials of Jalandhar Municipal Corporation.
As per reports, Arora’s name came up when the PVB was interrogating Vashisht who was arrested following the complaint filed by colonisers and commercial unit owners for allegedly demanding a bribe of ₹30,000 on 14th May. “Vashisht enjoyed Arora’s patronage. He was posted in Jalandhar Central zone for one-and-a-half years and was deployed in Jalandhar West zone before that for four years,” a VB official was quoted as saying. “The complainants alleged he had been delaying file approvals and extorting money from applicants,” the official added.
Vashisht allegedly threatened to seal the buildings of complainants if they failed to pay the bribe. He is said to have admitted to have issued around 350 notices to stakeholders from April 2022 to March 2025 which are being investigated by the authorities. The PVB has seized documents relating to permissions granted for change of land use, notices issued to commercial and residential units to pay their dues and authorisation granted to residential colonies and development of commercial hubs in Jalandhar Central and West assembly constituencies in the last 2 years.
On May 22, 2024, the PVB arrested former health minister and Mansa MLA Dr Vijay Singla on corruption charges. A year before that, in February 2023, Bathinda Rural AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta was also arrested in a corruption case.
News