In a remand application submitted to a local court in Ranchi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) asserted that former chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren is intimately connected to the procurement, possession, and utilisation of funds from a property fraud.
One of the primary suspects in the fraud, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a revenue sub-inspector at Baragai, Ranchi, is said by the probe agency in its remand note to have actively participated in hatched schemes with other individuals to unlawfully purchase properties.
After looking through chat and phone records, the agency discovered that Prasad was also working with Soren, who had unlawfully purchased properties that were under the former’s control.
“On the said mobile phone, several chats and information related to cash transactions and illegal benefits to others in acquiring land have been identified. In addition to these, one image containing the list of landed properties illegally acquired and possessed by Hemant Soren that were situated under his jurisdiction and had a total area of 8.5 acres has also been recovered,” the application further claimed.
The disputed land at Baragai has been “wrongfully alleged to be owned and possessed” by Soren, he claims, rejecting the accusations.
He said he discovered the properties were “Bhuinhari land,” which he and his family did not own or possess, and that they were not allowed to be sold or otherwise alienated.
However, the ED said that Soren had a “direct” role in the process of obtaining, keeping, and using the proceeds of criminal activity.
“Soren is knowingly a party with Bhanu Pratap Prasad in the activities connected with concealment of the original records for projecting the property acquired by him in an illegal manner as an untainted property,” it said.
It was revealed that the activities related to obtaining, holding, and using criminal proceeds while disguising them as untarnished property are ongoing.
The agency claimed that Prasad had obtained and sold multiple landed properties illegally, along with a “land-grabbing syndicate,” and that they were now engaged in similar activities.
It further claimed that Prasad had hidden the registers listing Soren’s property details.
“The images of the handwritten notes in respect of the above properties recovered from the mobile of Bhanu Pratap Prasad and further investigation establish the possession of Hemant Soren and also the fact that there was an attempt to falsify the records of that register so that the property could be entered in the name of Shri Hemant Soren, which was foiled by the timely actions of this office,” it stated.
The CBI stated that during the searches at Soren’s Delhi home, they retrieved papers related to the inquiry and more than ₹36 lakh.
It informed the local court that it had “sufficient reasons to believe” that Soren had obtained illicit funds and had committed money laundering.
Several summonses were issued to Hemant Soren for his explanation in the above matter, but most of the time he did not appear deliberately, which also proves that he is deliberately evading investigation,” the probe agency argued.
The agency stated that although Soren was “reluctant to receive the orders before he tendered his resignation from the post of Chief Minister” to the Jharkhand Governor, he had been notified of his arrest at approximately 5 PM.
“He left for the Governor’s House without consent and without completing the ongoing proceedings. The written grounds of arrest could be served to him at 10 p.m.,” it added.
The agency requested a 10-day detention in order to investigate the sources of money and property used to obtain the proceeds of criminal activity.
In a separate event, Soren challenged his arrest in relation to the case, and today the Supreme Court denied him any redress.