Hemant Soren arrested; Rahul calls ED ‘BJP's eliminate oppn cell’. 10 points

Hemant Soren resigned as chief minister of Jharkhand amid buzz over arrest in money laundering case.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday soon after he resigned as chief minister. The arrest comes after hours of questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam followed by Soren's resignation.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. (PTI)

Soren tendered his resignation to Governor CP Radhakrishnan after about seven hours of questioning in the money laundering case and headed back to this Ranchi residence where ED officials were present. State transport minister Champai Soren said he has staked claim to form the new government in Jharkhand with the support of 47 legislators.

Here are the top updates from political developments in Jharkhand:

1. An official told HT they have evidence that Soren is the key beneficiary in the alleged land-related irregularities in Ranchi, where a network of brokers and businessmen were working over the years to create fake deeds of landed parcels by forging records in the registrar offices and further selling them off.
2. The questioning of Soren started at 1.20 pm and continued for almost seven hours before he left for Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation as Jharkhand chief minister.
3. Hemant Soren headed back to his residence after handing over his resignation to the governor amid intense speculation regarding his arrest. He was then taken to the ED office in Ranchi where he was formally arrested.
4. CPI-ML MLA Vinod Bagodar, part of the ruling alliance, said that all the members of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ have submitted a letter to the governor proposing Champai Soren as the next chief minister.
5. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the ruling BJP at the Centre used the probe agency to force Soren's resignation, calling it a blow to federalism. “The BJP's work of destabilising the opposition governments one by one as part of a conspiracy is continuing,” he said in a post on X. Senior
6. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the central probe agencies like ED and CBI have become the ‘opposition elimination cell’ of the BJP.
7. Champai Soren is known to be a loyalist of JMM supremo Shibu Soren and has been a legislator from the Serikela assembly constituency for more than three decades since 1991.
8. Meanwhile, a curfew under Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed within a 100-metre radius of the Jharkhand CM's residence, Raj Bhavan and, the office of the ED in Ranchi.
9. Earlier today, Hemant Soren lodged an FIR against senior ED officials at the SC/ST police station in Ranchi over searches conducted by the agency at his Delhi residence. Soren alleged that the ED conducted the search operation at his residence in the national capital to "harass and malign him and his entire community".
10. The Jharkhand BJP president hit out at Soren and said the JMM leader seems to have “lost his mind out of fear.”