On Monday, January 29, there was a media buzz that Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is ‘missing’, and cannot be reached as ED wants to interrogate him. As per reports, an ED team had reached the Jharkhand CM’s residence but could not find him. He was reportedly unreachable.
The fact that a sitting CM was ‘unreachable’ and nobody knew where he was, was enough to create a buzz in media and social media. The office of the CM reportedly told that they are not aware of the CM’s whereabouts.
Later in the day, reports emerged that the Jharkhand CM was probably in the National Capital Region, and his last location was traced to Gurgaon. However, the ED was still unable to reach or contact him.
Hemant Soren has skipped ED summons 9 times already.
The BJP has termed Hemant Soren a ‘fugitive’ and party workers are protesting in the state capital Ranchi.
Nishikant Dubey says JMM is preparing to appoint Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren as CM
Amid all the media speculations over Hemant Soren’s whereabouts and his alleged looming ‘arrest’ by ED, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey posted that the JMM is preparing to make Kalpana Soren the next CM. In a post on X, Dubey wrote, “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?”
Dubey added, “Hemant Soren ji has called his own, JMM, Congress, and allied MLAs to reach Ranchi with their luggage and bags. According to the information, there is a proposal to make Kalpana Soren ji (Hemant Soren’s wife) the Chief Minister. The CM has said that fearing an ED interrogation, they will reach Ranchi by road and announce their arrival.”
What does the JMM say
While the ED team waited to contact the Jharkhand CM, his party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha tried to clarify that the CM was away at Delhi for some personal work.
JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said that CM Soren was ready to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
“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.
Why was ED searching for Hemant Soren on Monday, January 29?
The Jharkhand CM is wanted for interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a major land scam case. Soren has already skipped 9 ED summons. The current summon to him is the 10th summon by the probe agency. As reported by ANI, the ED had written to Jharkhand CM asking him to provide a date for questioning on January 29 or 31, or else the agency itself will go to him for questioning, in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
Before that, Soren had ignored the January 22 summons by ED.
Earlier on January 22, ED issued a summons to Soren for the ninth time, asking him to be available for questioning between January 27 and 31 in the case.
Meanwhile, on January 20, the Enforcement Directorate arrived in Ranchi to question the Jharkhand Chief Minister in the land scam case. The eighth summons was issued to Soren on January 13, asking him to be available for questioning between January 16 to 20, in the case. ED had previously issued a summons to Jharkhand CM Soren’s press advisor, Abhishek Prasad, to join its investigation on January 16 into an alleged money laundering probe linked to an illegal mining case.
What is the Land Scam case
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the investigation pertains to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand. The ED officials are investigating the illegal purchase and sale of 4.55 acres of land under military control in Ranchi.
the ED had opened a probe into three cases of land fraud based on numerous First Information Reports filed by the Jharkhand Police and the West Bengal Police against Pradip Bagchi, Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, Bhanu Pratap Prasad as well as others under various Indian Penal Code sections.
It is alleged that a massive mafia racket transferred land ownership illegally in Jharkhand. The government notification stated that “these criminal elements used to forge the legacy records in Ranchi and Kolkata.” Additionally, it was discovered that dishonest government employees had fabricated land ownership records to curry favor with the aforementioned land mafia.
Around 14 individuals have been arrested in this case so far including Bhanu Pratap Prasad, the Revenue Deputy Inspector of Badgai region in Ranchi.
the Chief Minister’s name was mentioned in the statements of businessman Vishnu Agarwal and Revenue Sub-Inspector of Bargain Circle Bhanu Pratap Prasad. Currently, businessman Vishnu Agarwal is in ED custody in connection with the land scam case under the charges of money laundering.
During the interrogation, Vishnu Aggarwal, the director of Nucleus Mall, reportedly revealed the name of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
(With inputs from ANI)