Soren unlikely to appear before ED for questioning in money laundering case

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is unlikely to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Monday in connection with a money laundering case, a source said.

The ED had on August 8 summoned Soren to depose on August 14 at the federal agency's office here and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

"The chief minister is unlikely to appear before the ED today in view of his busy schedule. He may request for another date from the agency," the source said.

Soren was to be questioned in an alleged defence land scam case.

The 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was interrogated for over nine hours by the ED on November 18 last year in another money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state.

The central probe agency is investigating more than a dozen land deals, including one related to defence land, wherein a group of land mafia, middlemen and bureaucrats allegedly connived to forge deeds and documents of as long back as 1932.

A special PMLA court has already sent Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, arrested by ED, to jail.

The ED interrogated Ranjan for around 10 hours on April 24 in connection with its probe into money laundering in the alleged illegal land deals.

Ranjan was briefly questioned by the agency on April 13 as well when searches were carried out at his premises and those of some others in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.

The ED has arrested several people so far in the state including Soren's political aide Pankaj Mishra.

Earlier, Soren who was questioned in November last year, had claimed that he was a "victim of conspiracy" by the opposition BJP in the state. He has been accusing the opposition of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government ever since the JMM came to power.

"The central agency should level allegations only after a detailed investigation into the matter... I am the chief minister of the state and hold a constitutional post. But the way the summons were issued, it seems I will flee from the country," he had said.

Soren was initially summoned by the ED on November 3, 2022 but he did not appear citing official engagements. He had even dared the central probe agency to arrest him and then sought a three-week deferment of the summons.

The BJP had also petitioned for Soren's disqualification from the assembly in an office-of-profit case in August 2022. The UPA constituents supporting Soren had in a joint statement on August 28 that year accused the then governor Ramesh Bias of encouraging political horse-trading.

On August 30, the coalition had shifted its MLAs to Raipur in Chhattisgarh by a chartered flight in a bid to thwart the BJP's possible attempt to poach ruling legislators. They flew back to Ranchi on September 4 to attend a special session of Jharkhand assembly on September 5 in which Soren won a confidence motion.