Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren sent to 5-day ED custody
Hemant Soren was arrested on Wednesday night by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to a land scam.
A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi on Friday granted the custody of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren to the Enforcement Directorate for five days.
Soren was arrested on Wednesday night by the ED in a money laundering case linked to a land scam soon after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader demitted the office of chief minister of the state.
The ED claims it has evidence of Soren being the key beneficiary in alleged land-related irregularities in Ranchi, where a network of brokers and businessmen were allegedly working over the years to create fake deeds of landed parcels by forging records in the registrar offices and further selling them off.
Shortly after Hemant Soren quit as the chief minister, JMM leader Champai Soren was elected as the leader of the legislature party. He was invited by Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Thursday night to form a government. Champai Soren took oath as chief minister earlier today at 12.15 pm.
Hemant Soren has denied the charges against him, saying that the ED is accusing him of something that is not related to him.
"They are accusing me of something that is not at all related to me. They are accusing me of land scam but that land never gets sold. They did not find any evidence against me. They raided in Delhi and found nothing. Today they came and spent the entire day questioning. They know that courts are shut in the evening and hence they announce their decision to arrest me in the evening," Hemant Soren said.
He added: "They will arrest me but I am not scared because I am the son of Shibu Soren. Fighting is in my blood. I have no connection with the land. I have been implicated based on fake papers."
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