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Amid ED searches, Soren took 1,300km road trip to Ranchi
Chief minister Hemant Soren reached Ranchi in the early hours of Tuesday and later, held a meeting of MLAs to discuss the present political situation
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Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren returned to Ranchi from Delhi, nearly 1,300km away, by road on Monday night to avoid officials keeping a watch at New Delhi airport to trace the 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, people close to him said on Tuesday.
Soren reached Ranchi in the early hours of Tuesday and later held a meeting of the ruling alliance lawmakers at the chief minister’s residence to discuss the political situation in the state. In photographs and videos shared by Soren’s office on X (previously Twitter), a large number of MLAs and ministers were seen greeting him before attending the meeting. Soren’s wife Kalpana was also present at the meeting.
Soren wasn’t at his south Delhi house when a team of ED officials reached at 7am on Monday. The federal agency searched the house in the Shanti Niketan neighbourhood on Monday and camped at the location for nearly 13 hours waiting for him. They seized about ₹36 lakh cash, a BMW SUV registered in Haryana and some documents from his Delhi residence, officials said, declining to be named.
READ | Soren returns to Ranchi, digs heels amid ED hunt
Soren was “around” New Delhi for legal consultation, people close to him said on condition of anonymity, stressing that there was no need for the agency officers to go looking for him as he had already responded to the ED.
The agency that investigates financial crimes on Saturday asked Soren to confirm his appearance on January 29 or 31 for further questioning in a money laundering probe. Soren informed the ED’s Ranchi zone assistant director on Sunday that he would appear before the probe team at his Ranchiresidence at 1pm on January 31. He was last questioned in the case on January 20.
Soren landed at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport on Friday and was expected to fly out by another chartered plane owned by a private firm, airport officials said, wishing to remain unnamed. This aircraft landed on Saturday night and remained parked at the airport. An ED team was stationed at the airport in case he sought to fly back to Ranchi.
READ | ‘Missing’ Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren holds meeting in Ranchi: Top updates
The central agency’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act probe against Soren pertains to an alleged land scam linked to the ownership of a parcel of land measuring 7.16 acres in the Bajra area of Ranchi. It has been alleged that the land parcel was acquired through proceeds of crime involving the illegal sale of army land. Soren has dismissed the case as politically motivated and said the details of his assets were in the public domain.
The agency has arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011 batch Indian Administrative Service officer Chhavi Ranjan, who served as director of the state’s social welfare department, deputy commissioner of Ranchi, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, and businessmen Amit Agrawal and Bishnu Agrawal, who own shopping malls in the state capital.
