ED Arrests Hemant Soren in Dramatic Turn of Events in Ranchi, Champai Soren Chosen Successor
GG News Bureau
Ranchi, 1st Feb. Hemant Soren, the executive president of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday. He is accused of money laundering in connection with the “illegal” sale and purchase of land in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.
Prior to his arrest, Soren met with the governor, accompanied by a team of ED officials who had come to his residence earlier in the day to question him for the second time. He submitted his resignation as chief minister during this meeting.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from the ruling coalition, including the JMM, Congress, RJD, and CPIML, went to the Raj Bhavan to express their support for appointing state minister Champai Soren as the new chief minister.
JMM Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji informed reporters outside Raj Bhavan that party leaders had learned that Soren would be arrested as soon as his resignation was accepted.
The case against Hemant Soren dates back to 2022 when a tax collector filed a case against Pradip Bagchi for allegedly forging documents to claim ownership of defense land. It is alleged that the land was fraudulently sold to a company based in Kolkata.
The ED’s prosecution complaint alleges that IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, who served as deputy commissioner of Ranchi from July 2020 to July 2022, conspired with Bagchi and other administrative officials, as well as Soren’s close aides Prem Prakash and Amit Agarwal, to sell the defense land.
The ED claims that the proceeds from the “fraudulent sale” were used to purchase 7.16 acres of land in the Bajra area of Ranchi.
In a letter to the ED, Soren denied the charges and stated that the land in question cannot be sold or transferred in any way, as it has been owned by the Pahan family for five decades.
The ED had issued a total of 10 summonses to Soren before he agreed to be questioned on January 20. Earlier this week, the ED raided Soren’s residence in Delhi, but he was not present, leading to speculation about his whereabouts and political future.
Soren confirmed in a letter to the ED on Monday that he would provide his statement on Wednesday at 1pm.
Soren is the 15th person to be arrested in this case. Others in custody include Amit Agarwal, Prem Prakash, and Chhavi Ranjan.
