In a seismic turn of events with deep-rooted implications for Jharkhand’s political landscape, Hemant Soren, amidst mounting speculations, faced arrest in connection with a money laundering case subsequent to his resignation as the chief minister. According to top officials from the Enforcement Directorate, Mr. Soren delayed signing his arrest memo until he tendered his resignation to Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan. Following this, agency officials escorted the former chief minister to the Raj Bhavan for his resignation formalities.
Subsequently, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was escorted to the Enforcement Directorate’s office in Ranchi for interrogation and subsequent formal arrest. Prior to his resignation, Mr. Soren underwent questioning at his city residence for a duration spanning six hours, pertaining to his alleged involvement in a ₹600-crore land scam, which serves as the crux of the money laundering case.
The choice of Mr. Soren’s successor as the chief minister, however, defied earlier conjectures. Contrary to expectations, his wife Kalpana Soren was not designated for the role; instead, senior JMM stalwart and former transport minister in the outgoing cabinet, Champai Soren, assumed the mantle.
The Enforcement Directorate’s arrest of Mr. Soren followed a search operation at his Delhi residence just two days prior. Despite his absence during the operation, which prompted jibes from the BJP insinuating that he was ‘on the run,’ officials seized ₹36 lakh in cash and a BMW car, purportedly belonging to him.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Soren initiated legal action against senior officials of the Enforcement Directorate’s Ranchi office under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, citing harassment and defamation stemming from Monday’s operation. In his complaint, the JMM leader, belonging to a scheduled tribe, asserted that the actions of the enforcement agency not only targeted him but also besmirched his entire community.
Furthermore, Mr. Soren vehemently denied ownership of the BMW or the cash seized by the Enforcement Directorate, attributing the dissemination of ‘selective misinformation’ to the agency’s officers.
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