Jharkhand: ED arrests CM Soren's aide Pankaj Mishra for ‘money laundering’

Pankaj Mishra, the political aide of Hemant Soren, was arrested after hours of questioning by the agency officers.

Updated on: Jul 19, 2022, 22:14:07 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Pankaj Mishra, the political aide of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining.

Pankaj Mishra is being taken by the ED after his arrest in Ranchi. (ANI Twitter) 

Mishra's arrest came after hours of questioning by the agency officers. According to a PTI report, Mishra was "evasive in his replies" during questioning.

Mishra will be kept at Kotwali Police station where he was brought after a medical test conducted at the Sadar Hospital in Ranchi and will be produced in PMLA court on Wednesday. The ED will seek his custody in the court.

On July 8, the ED had conducted searches at 19 locations linked to Mishra and his aides in Sahebganj, Berhait, Rajmahal and Mirza Chauki. The ED then summoned him to join the investigation but didn't turn up twice giving the reason of ill health. He joined the investigation on his third summons on Tuesday.

Earlier, the ED had said that it had seized cash amounting to ₹11.88 crore lying in 37 bank accounts belonging to Mishra and others in an illegal mining case. The money was seized under the Prevention of money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

(With inputs from agencies)

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