NEW DELHI/LUDHIANA, April 17 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at premises linked to Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora, his son and others in connection with a foreign exchange violation probe involving alleged insider trading and round-tripping of funds from the UAE.

Officials said 13 residential and official locations across Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurugram and Chandigarh were covered under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). These include properties linked to Arora, his real estate firm Hampton Sky Realty Ltd (formerly Ritesh Properties and Industries Ltd), and his son Kavya Arora, who heads the company.

The agency also searched premises of Ludhiana-based stock broker Hemanth Sood, who runs ...