Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren held a meeting with JMM and Congress MLAs on Tuesday at his residence to discuss strategies regarding the current political situation, and the Enforcement Directorate's proposed questioning of the CM.
Earlier in the day, Hemant Soren, who was allegedly missing since January 27, reached Ranchi via road, sources said. An Enforcement Directorate team on Monday visited the residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in Delhi in connection with a money laundering investigation, official sources said.
Section 144 CrPc was also imposed within a 100-meter radius of Jharkhand CM's residence, Raj Bhavan and ED office in Ranchi. According to the sources, the agency had issued the fresh summons to Soren last week asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31.
JMM leader Manoj Pandey on Tuesday said, "An elected govt is harassing an elected CM, is it a sin to be a tribal? Hemant Soren had informed ED that he would be available on 31st January, ED himself had given a deadline of 31st January, so why was a probe on January 29, why so much desperation? He is a beloved CM not a fugitive...this is an insult to the people of Jharkhand and the tribals..."
The agency had recorded the statement of the 48-year-old chief minister for the first time in the case on January 20 after investigators went to his official residence in Ranchi. They recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the about seven hours they spent at his home.
Soren's letter to ED
The letter reads, " 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 pro-occupied with preparations for the same apart from other prior scheduled official engagements. In these circumstances, your insistence to record a further statement of the undersigned on or before 31st January 2024 rocks 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. The undersigned's apprehensions that your acts are malefice and politically motivated stand vindicated. The issuance of summon to the undersigned is wholly vexatious and in the colourable exercise of powers given by the statute"
