Media reports surfaced on Monday, January 29, claiming that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was “missing” and could not be located because the ED wanted to question him. According to accounts, an ED team arrived at the Jharkhand chief minister’s house but was unable to locate him. It was said that he was inaccessible.
Media and social media were abuzz because a sitting chief minister was “unreachable” and no one knew where he was. According to reports, the CM’s office stated that they are clueless as to the CM’s location.
The Jharkhand chief minister was likely in the National Capital Region, according to reports that surfaced later in the day, and Gurgaon was identified as his last known whereabouts. Still, the ED was unable to get in touch with him.
Hemant Soren has already bypassed nine ED summonses.
Hemant Soren has been referred to by the BJP as a “fugitive,” and party members are demonstrating in Ranchi, the state capital.
According to Nishikant Dubey, JMM is getting ready to name Kalpana Soren, Hemant’s wife, as CM.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote that the JMM is getting ready to name Kalpana Soren as the next chief minister amid all the media conjecture on Hemant Soren’s whereabouts and his purported impending “arrest” by the ED. Dubey stated in a post on X, “A big piece of advice to those who are doing wrong on Chief Minister Hemant Soren ji’s instructions: the man is insulted both domestically and internationally all day long and is proving to be a fugitive by running from the investigating agency.” How is that man going to defend the state’s citizens or its officers?
Hemant Soren ji has called on his own, JMM, Congress, and allied MLAs to come to Ranchi with their bags and luggage, Dubey continued. The source indicates that Kalpana Soren ji, Hemant Soren’s wife, is being proposed to be appointed Chief Minister. Fearing an ED interrogation, the CM has stated that they will travel to Ranchi by road and make an announcement upon their arrival.
What is said by the JMM?
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha attempted to clarify that the Chief Minister of Jharkhand was in Delhi for personal business while the ED team was waiting to get in touch with him and his party.
CM Soren was prepared to testify before the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in relation to a money-laundering case connected to an alleged land fraud, according to JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya.
“CM will be coming back; he went to Delhi for personal business. On January 31, a call was placed to him. The 31st of January is set for us. You asked us to let you know the location and time, so we informed you that it would be at 1 p.m. at CM’s house on Kanke Road. Then, who is causing all of the confusion? Democratic values are being violated by the way the current situation is being presented, according to Bhattacharya.
On Monday, January 29, why was Hemant Soren being looked for by ED?
The Enforcement Directorate is seeking to speak with the Jharkhand chief minister on a significant land scam. Thus far, Soren has ignored nine ED summonses. The probe agency has sent him ten summonses so far. This one is the tenth. In relation to a money-laundering case connected to an alleged land scam, the ED had written to the chief minister of Jharkhand, as reported by ANI, requesting that he submit a date for questioning on January 29 or 31, failing which the agency will bring him in for questioning.
Soren had disregarded ED’s summons on January 22 prior to that. Soren received a ninth summons from ED earlier on January 22, requesting that he be available for interrogation in the case between January 27 and January 31.
Concurrently, on January 20, the Enforcement Directorate reached Ranchi with the purpose of questioning the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on the land fraud matter. On January 13, Soren received his ninth summons, which requested that he be available for interrogation in the matter from January 16 to January 20. Abhishek Prasad, the press adviser for Jharkhand chief minister Soren, was previously summoned by the ED to participate in its investigation on January 16 into an alleged money laundering case related to an illegal mining case.
What is the case of Land Scam?
The Enforcement Directorate claims that the probe is related to a “massive mafia-run scheme of illegal land ownership changes” in Jharkhand. The illegal acquisition and sale of 4.55 acres of Ranchi land under military administration is the subject of an investigation by ED officials.
Based on multiple First Information Reports that the West Bengal and Jharkhand Police filed against Pradip Bagchi, Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, and other individuals under various Indian Penal Code sections, the ED has initiated an investigation into three cases of land fraud.
In Jharkhand, there are claims of a vast mafia network that fraudulently changed land ownership. “These criminal elements used to forge the legacy records in Ranchi and Kolkata,” according to the government announcement. It was also found that dishonest government workers had created fake land ownership documents in order to gain favour with the aforementioned land mafia.
Thus far, in this investigation, about 14 people have been taken into custody, among them Bhanu Pratap Prasad, the Revenue Deputy Inspector for Ranchi’s Badgai area.
Businessman Vishnu Agarwal and Revenue Sub-Inspector of Bargain Circle Bhanu Pratap Prasad both made remarks mentioning the Chief Minister. Businessman Vishnu Agarwal is now being held by the ED on allegations of money laundering related to the land fraud case.
During questioning, Vishnu Aggarwal, the director of Nucleus Mall, allegedly revealed Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s identity.
