Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged land scam. The probe agency has been questioning Soren for over six hours.
Visuals from Ranchi showed hectic activity in front of Hemant Soren’s residence. Three buses were seen entering Soren’s house on Kanke Road on Wednesday evening.
Soren is being questioned as part of a probe into a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, according to the probe agency.
Ahead of the scheduled questioning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to the Jharkhand government, seeking extra security. The probe agency made this demand in anticipation of possible law and order issues during Soren’s questioning.
HEMANT SOREN’S QUESTIONING: THE LATEST
A team of Enforcement Directorate officials arrived at the residence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday afternoon for questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. By 7 pm, the questioning has been underway for over 6 hours.
Meanwhile, Hemant Soren has filed a police complaint against Enforcement Directorate officials, seeking action under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He said that the probe agency officials in questions “leaked selective misinformation that a blue BMW car seized from the said premises belong to me, huge sums of illicit cash belonging to me was found at the said premises.”
“I am not the owner of the car of BMW make…I do not own any illicit cash,” Hemant Soren said.
Ahead of the scheduled questioning, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. A three-member team has been formed to oversee the law and order situation in the city. Over 7,000 police personnel have been deployed with a special focus on “strategic locations”, police said.
According to sources, Soren met his father and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren and took his blessings ahead of the ED’s questioning. Soren had informed the central agency that he would be available on Wednesday for questioning.
This is the second time Soren is being questioned by the probe agency in a fortnight. The ED questioned Soren on January 20, and later issued a tenth summons, asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31. In an email to the ED on Sunday, Soren had alleged that its actions were “motivated by political agenda” to disrupt the state government’s functioning.
Legislators from the ruling JMM-led alliance, which comprises the Congress and the RJD, signed a letter of support on Tuesday evening without including any names. This came amid speculation of Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren taking over the reins in the event of her husband being arrested. Although not a legislator herself, Kalpana Soren attended the meetings of the lawmakers on Tuesday.
On Monday, an ED team visited Soren’s official residence in Delhi with the intent to question him in the land fraud case. However, he was not present at his house, prompting agency officials to claim that he was “untraceable”. A day later, Soren surfaced in Ranchi, ending speculation about his “disapearance”. He then held a meeting with MLAs of the JMM-led alliance to discuss the current political scenario in the state. Responding to queries of his whereabouts, Soren said, “I reside in your hearts.”
The BJP hit out at Soren for his ‘disappearance’ with state party chief and Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi tweeting a ‘missing’ poster of Soren. The poster mentioned that a cash reward of Rs 11,000 will be given to those who gave information about Soren’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, legislators of the ruling JMM-led coalition assembled at Soren’s official residence in Ranchi. State Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh told news agency PTI that all the MLAs stood solidly behind the Chief Minister.
Hundreds of ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) workers and supporters gathered to protest against Hemant Soren’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The supporters claimed that Soren was being targeted by the BJP-led central government through the probe agency for his tribal identity.
Amid the hectic activity at Soren’s residence, Jharkhand Governor is set to meet Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLAs today. Sources told India Today that Hemant Soren will likely be arrested today.