Phagwara, April 15: Teams from the Enforcement Directorate launched a series of raids across Punjab on Wednesday, targeting the Lovely Professional University and several other businesses owned by the Lovely Group. The searches are part of a federal probe into suspected breaches of foreign exchange regulations.
The operation covered a wide range of interests held by the Mittal family, including the university’s Phagwara campus, residential properties, and the group’s retail and automobile ventures. Ashok Kumar Mittal, the founder and chancellor of the university and a member of the Rajya Sabha, is the primary figure associated with the entities under investigation.
The central probe agency coordinated the efforts through its regional offices in Chandigarh and Jalandhar. Local law enforcement was not involved in the execution of the searches, according to authorities.
“I have taken over from him just as he took over from ND Gupta earlier,” Mittal had declared recently, referring to his new role as the party’s deputy leader in the upper house. He asserted that the AAP remains committed to providing different leaders with the opportunity to address significant issues in Parliament.
The AAP leadership has characterized the investigation as a politically motivated move. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann affirmed his disapproval of the raids on social media, describing them as a typical approach used by the central administration. Arvind Kejriwal also declared that the action appeared to be a strategic move ahead of the Punjab elections, though he expressed confidence that the public would not be swayed by such measures.
