Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren questions ED's claim in illegal mining case

Soren wrote a letter to Enforcement Directorate assistant director Deovrat Jha and said it was impossible to evade royalty of Rs 1,000 crore in two years in Sahibganj

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote a letter to the assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Deovrat Jha on Thursday and questioned the claim of the agency. The CM said it was impossible to evade royalty of Rs 1,000 crore in two years in Sahibganj.

CM Soren released the letter a few hours before he turned up before the zonal office of the ED in Ranchi for questioning in the illegal stone mining case.

Earlier on Thursday night, Soren left the ED office after nine hours of questioning in the illegal mining case.

Soren reached the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office earlier in the day on being summoned by the central investigation agency.

He had earlier skipped ED summons in the case.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "The allegations don't seem plausible. I feel the agencies should come to a definite conclusion after conducting a detailed investigation. I am a chief minister but feel like someone who fled the country from the manner in which I have been summoned."

"Such actions create uncertainty in the state. It could be a conspiracy to destabilise the government. Our rivals have been conspiring to topple the government ever since we came to power," Soren had said.

The central agency summoned the Jharkhand chief minister in connection with its probe into alleged money laundering and illegal mining in the state, as well as on the alleged contravention of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The ED began its probe in the case on the basis of an FIR filed against Pankaj Mishra, a political representative of CM Soren.

It subsequently took over the investigation into other cases related to illegal mining in Jharkhand.

Soren was summoned months after the Election Commission, in August, sent a report to Governor Ramesh Bais, recommending the CM's disqualification as a member of the state legislative assembly for allegedly holding a mining lease.

The BJP claimed that Soren had flouted the office of profit rules. However, the CM denied the allegations.