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ED team camps at Hemant Soren's Delhi house, BJP claims Jharkhand CM ‘absconding’
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said the ED's insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31 ‘reeked of malice’
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of being motivated by political agenda, while agreeing to record his statement on January 31 in connection with a probe into alleged land scam. The details of Soren's email to the ED surfaced amid agency officials turning up at the CM's residence in the national capital.
According to ANI, the ED officials are present at Soren's residence in Delhi. Accusing the agency of being “motivated by political agenda”, Soren said the ED's insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31 ‘reeked of malice’.
"Preserve video recording of seven-hour questioning (of January 20) to make available to the Court of Law," PTI quoted Soren as per the email, while agreeing to record his statement on January 31 at 1 pm at his residence.
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JMM protests across Jharkhand
Soren's party JMM took to streets against the ED summons to the chief minister. Hundreds of JMM workers squatted along a stretch of the Dimna Chowk in Jamshedpur and other parts of the state and also disrupted road traffic.
A massive rally was also taken out by the JMM workers in state capital Ranchi, accusing the ED of targeting Soren, also the executive president of the party.
“The CM went to Delhi for some personal work and he will be back. But, the ED action is uncalled for and unconstitutional. It seems that the move is politically motivated,” JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya told PTI.
‘Constitutional crisis in state’: BJP
The BJP has claimed that Soren has been missing from his Delhi residence for last 18 hours, fearing action of ED. Soren had left for Delhi from Ranchi on January 27 night.
“According to media sources, late at night Hemant ji, wearing slippers and covering his face with a sheet, ran away from his Delhi residence on foot. Ajay Singh, the security personnel of special branch who went with him to Delhi, is also missing,” Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi said in a post on X.
“The mobile phones of both of them have also been switched off. Since then, the ED and Delhi Police are searching for them. There cannot be any other example of such gross negligence regarding the security of the chief minister,” added Marandi.
If there is truth in this news, then it is a situation of “constitutional crisis” for Jharkhand, Marandi said. “The governor is requested to take cognisance of the matter...,” he added.
