ED seizes Hemant Soren’s car; Jharkhand CM to record statement on Wednesday

NEW DELHI, RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials seized a luxury car belonging to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren from his Delhi residence late on Monday, in connection with the ongoing probe into a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. The BJP has alleged that Soren has “gone missing”.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand CM,  in a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, said he will record his statement before the agency officials at 1 pm on Wednesday at his residence.

“Today, the honour and respect of the people of Jharkhand were destroyed by our Chief Minister Hemant Soren ji, just by going missing”, BJP parliamentarian from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey, wrote on his X timeline.

#WATCH | A team from the Enforcement Directorate yesterday seized a luxury car belonging to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren from his Delhi residence, in connection with the probe into a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. pic.twitter.com/354sURUDxF

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2024

The Enforcement Directorate officials visited the residence of Soren in the national capital on Monday night for questioning him in connection with the alleged land scam case and said that the Jharkhand Chief Minister could not be located.

As per sources, the ED has issued fresh summons to Soren asked him to be available for questioning on January 29 or 31, or else the agency itself will go to him for questioning. This is the tenth summons issued to the Jharkhand Chief Minister by the ED.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya on Monday said that CM Soren was ready to appear before the central agency on January 31.

“CM has gone to Delhi for personal work, and he will return as well. He has been called on January 31. We are ready for January 31. You asked us to tell you the place and time, and we told you the place would be CM’s residence on Kanke Road and the time would be 1 pm. Who is creating all the confusion, then? The way the political situation is being presented is against democratic values”, Bhattacharya said.

On January 20, Soren was questioned at his official residence in Ranchi in the alleged land scam case.

Meanwhile, on Monday, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey alleged that Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren may replace him and that the Jharkhand chief minister has called all allied MLAs to reach Ranchi “with their luggage”.

Dubey asked how a man who is absconding will protect the people of the state. “A big advice to those who are doing wrong on the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren ji, the CM is proving himself to be a fugitive, running away from facing the investigating agency, the man is facing insults in the country and abroad all day long. How will that man protect the officers or the people of the state?” the BJP leader wrote on X.

On Tuesday, while accepting to record his statement, the Jharkhand chief minister alleged that questioning him at this time was more political and was meant to disrupt the functioning of his government.

“You are well aware that the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly will be held between 2nd and 29th February 2024 and the undersigned will be pre-occupied with preparations for the same apart from other prior scheduled official engagements”, the letter written by Soren to ED’s Ranchi office said.

“In these circumstances, your insistence to record a further statement of the undersigned on or before 31 January 2024 reeks of malice and reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the State Government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties”, Soren’s letter to the ED said.

The “acts are malafide and politically motivated (and) stand vindicated. The issuance of summon to the undersigned is wholly vexatious and in colourable exercise of powers given by the statute”, the letter added.

Jharkhand Minister Banna Gupta said, “Honourable CM is in the hearts of Jharkhand people. He has said that he will answer all the questions of ED as per the deadline given by ED, let the deadline come..I don’t want to make any comments on ED, everything will come to people’s court, they are the head in democracy. People set the narrative regarding what is happening to whom, and why is it happening…”

Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan said in Ranchi that no one was above the law and the CM must obey the law. “Like you (the media), we are also waiting for the CM’s response. Nobody is above the law. We have to work within the Constitution. We want law and order to be maintained”, the Governor said.

Meanwhile, Section 144 CrPc imposed within 100 meters radius of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s residence, Raj Bhavan and ED office in Ranchi. (ANI)