Year on, Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora gets back his security cover

Arora had this morning gone to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to attend the special session. He had even posted his two photographs on his social media accounts from inside the Vidhan Sabha.

Hours later, the Jalandhar city police sent a gypsy and four constables to his residence in Ashok Nagar.

Arora, when contacted this evening, said that he was still on his way back from Chandigarh. He, however, confirmed that he had received a call from his home about the deployment.

Arora was nabbed by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case on May 23 last year. He got bail four months later but was immediately booked and re-arrested in an extortion and graft case. He got bail on September 22 and walked out of the prison.

Since his release from the jail more than six months ago, Arora was not seen participating in any political activity except for attending the sessions in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Ruling AAP had instead empowered halqa incharge Nitin Kohli to take all decisions pertaining to the Assembly seat.

According to sources, the situation took a twist after the defection of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, including Ashok Mittal, to the BJP.

Both being the city’s leading businessmen, Kohli and Mittal have remained very closely associated with one another. According to sources, Kohli and Jalandhar Mayor Vaneet Dhir had yesterday met AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and learnt to have expressed support for Arora.

Prior to his arrest, Arora had remained close to the family of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, with his wife and sister often visiting him. The MLA then had 14 security personnel with him. The security was withdrawn on May 14, first indication of an imminent action against him.