Central agency searches multiple locations in Chandigarh and Mohali as part of an escalating money-laundering probe.
According to agency sources, search operations targeted five to six premises across Chandigarh, Mohali, and adjoining areas. Under heavy security, ED officials focused on retrieving crucial financial records, digital devices, and property transaction ledgers.
The multi-city operation marks a sharp escalation in the central agency’s focus on Punjab’s real estate sector over alleged financial irregularities, illegal property dealings, and the systematic routing of illicit funds through shell companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Founded by Kewal Krishan Kansal and led by directors Parveen Kansal, Neeraj Kansal, and Piyush Kansal, the Royale Estate Group is a prominent developer in the Chandigarh tricity with a substantial footprint in Zirakpur, Mohali, and Panchkula.
The searches at Royale Estate offices and associated premises come amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny over illegal property transactions, Change of land use (CLU) violations, and the diversion of buyer funds across the tricity area. The ED’s intervention is part of a broader, systemic clean-up of regional builders and colonisers who have capitalised on Mohali’s rapid urban expansion while allegedly bypassing mandatory financial frameworks. Agency officials expect to analyse the documents and digital evidence seized during Tuesday’s raids on Royale Estate to trace further financial trails and establish specific PMLA violations connected to this wider, regional network.
The raids follow a string of ED searches in the region, most notably the recent arrest of real estate developer Ajay Sehgal, the secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society (ICHBS). Remanded to custody by the ED’s Jalandhar unit, Sehgal is accused of fabricating fake farmer consent letters with forged signatures and thumbprints for 30.5 acres of land to fraudulently secure mega-project CLU approvals for the Suntec City township in Mohali.
Alongside developments like the La Canela residential complex and the District 7 commercial project, the ED alleges that over ₹200 crore was collected from buyers before acquiring proper Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registrations. The probe gained public attention after a dramatic incident at the Western Towers high-rise in Kharar, Mohali, where individuals linked to the accused threw bags containing ₹21 lakh in cash from a 9th-floor apartment to evade search teams.
Initial searches targeted locations tied to Gaurav Dhir of Dhir Constructions, an alleged close associate of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora. The ED alleges that Dhir purchased a project from Altus Space Builders for ₹130 crore by significantly undervaluing it by over ₹170 crore to facilitate money laundering. While Arora has dismissed the probe as central political vendetta, investigators are actively reviewing the role of senior public servants within the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for granting fraudulent clearances.