The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday morning launched search operations at six premises across Ludhiana and Jalandhar in Punjab, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi-Noida region.The action is part of an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The premises being searched include residences and business offices linked to persons and entities under investigation in the Hampton Sky Realty Ltd case, a company linked to Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora.Arora is already behind bars. He was arrested by the ED following raids at his premises in Chandigarh last month.In Jalandhar, the ED conducted searches on the premises of Municipal Corporation contractors and brothers Inderjit Bajaj and Amit Bajaj. The Bajaj brothers have their residence and office in the New Jawahar Nagar locality.They are among the major contractors for the Municipal Corporation and several other government departments, not only in Jalandhar but also in Ludhiana, Mohali and other states, including Gujarat, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. They were also reportedly involved in running agencies that supplied outsourced manpower.Amit Bajaj is learnt to have provided backend support to the Aam Aadmi Party during the Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll, the parliamentary elections and the Municipal Corporation polls. He has been considered close to the party’s senior leadership and were often seen at party meetings.Before AAP came to power in Punjab, the Bajaj brothers were known to be close to leaders of political parties that were in government. Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was known to visit their residence ahead of elections, and they were also considered close to Congress leaders during the previous regime.