New Delhi, Jan 20 ( Agency) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is being questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at his home in connection with a money laundering case. The probe agency officials arrived at his official residence on Kanke Road in Ranchi today morning. Three officers from Delhi are also part of the team. The investigation pertains to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, according to the ED. The agency has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who has served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
The Chief Minister was issued a ‘last opportunity’ by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to record his statement on an alleged land scam days ago. Soren, in turn, replied to the agency, labelling the summons as ‘illegal.’ “Since you have not come to the office of the Directorate of Enforcement in obedience to the summonses issued to you, we are giving you this last opportunity to record your statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, at the place, date and time, mutually convenient to you as well as the undersigned (ED), which should be within 7 days of receipt of this notice/Summons,” said the ED in its summons.
Soren was summoned by the ED earlier in mid-August, 2023, in connection with a land ‘scam’ case. However, the CM ignored the summons, claiming that he was busy with the state’s Independence Day celebrations. He was asked again to appear on August 24 and September 9 but he skipped the dates, citing preoccupations. The agency then issued its fourth summons to the Jharkhand CM, asking him to report to the agency on September 23. In his letter to the agency, Mr Soren said he had provided all necessary documents and information to the ED. He wrote that if the ED needed any information, it could refer to the documents that he had already shared with the agency.