Ranchi/New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) Ending suspense over his whereabouts, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday reached his official residence in Ranchi and chaired meetings of his alliance MLAs, ahead of his scheduled questioning by the ED in a money laundering case.
A day after the ED team visited the JMM executive president’s Delhi home with the intent to question him and agency officials claimed that he was “untraceable”, sources close to Soren said that the 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader came by road from Delhi, undertaking a more than 1250 km journey.
“I reside in your hearts,” he told reporters in Ranchi after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary. He was replying to a query regarding his absence.
“We all are committed to following the footsteps and ideologies of the Father of the Nation. We are proud that such people were born among us and guided us,” he added.
Soren held two rounds of meetings of alliance legislators at the CM House to discuss the present political situation in the state. In photographs and videos shared by Soren’s office on X, MLAs and ministers were seen greeting the chief minister before taking part in the meeting.
Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren, who is not a legislator, was also present at the meeting.
The lawmakers expressed solidarity with the Hemant Soren government at the meetings.
They also signed a letter of support without any name as speculations are rife that the chief minister’s wife Kalpana Soren will be handed over the reins in the event of his arrest.
“We are ready for what may come… The BJP is abusing central agencies to destabilise a democratically elected government but we will not allow them to succeed in their mission,” Transport Minister and senior JMM leader Champai Soren told PTI.
Earlier in the day, state governor CP Radhakrishnan, who has repeatedly expressed displeasure over the “deteriorating law and order” in the state, called Chief Secretary Lalbiaktluanga Khiangte, and Director General of Police Ajay Kumar Singh at the Raj Bhavan to take stock of the situation.
After the meeting, the DGP told PTI that elaborate security arrangements have been made across the state to maintain law and order, including the deployment of an additional 7,000 policemen.
Prohibitory orders were imposed in key areas of Ranchi, including near the CM House, the Raj Bhavan and the ED office at Doranda, from 10 am to 10 pm, officials said.
Soren, also the executive president of the ruling JMM, had left for the national capital on January 27 night and his scheduled government programme in the state was cancelled without any explanation.
In an email to the probe agency on Sunday, Soren alleged that the ED’s actions were “motivated by political agenda” to disrupt the state government’s functioning and claimed that its insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31 “reeked of malice”.
The federal agency questioned Soren on January 20, and later issued a fresh summons, asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31.
The Enforcement Directorate will question Soren on Wednesday in Ranchi in a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged land scam. The official sources have said that they have seized Rs 36 lakh, a BMW SUV and some “incriminating” documents during the search operations at his house in the national capital on Monday.
Meanwhile, JMM and the BJP leaders engaged in a verbal duel with the opposition party in the state claiming that Soren was “missing” for several hours after going to Delhi and the Congress and JMM alleging that the saffron camp was spreading rumours about Soren.
The JMM said it will file a case against state BJP chief Babulal Marandi for allegedly defaming the Chief Minister by his comment on the JMM leader’s “absence” in the state capital Ranchi.
“The CM is not just an individual but a prime institution of the state. But, the way the BJP made allegations against the individual and institution, it qualifies the criteria for Section 499 of CrPC (Defamation),” JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya also asked: “When the state chief minister Hemant Soren called the ED Directorate to record his statement on January 31, why did they reach his official residence in Delhi yesterday.” Commenting on ED’s claim that it had recovered Rs 36 lakh during the search on Monday, Bhattacharya accused the ED and BJP state president Babulal Marandi of “planning” it.
“They are treating him like a criminal but I would like to make it clear that our CM is not afraid of anyone,” he asserted.
Citing the ED’s recovery of cash from Soren’s residence, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wondered if the chief minister has been hiding his “billions” of rupees after going “missing” for 50 hours.
In a swipe at the JMM leader, the Godda MP also claimed that his father Shibu Soren had also gone missing for 21 days while being a Union minister and that the son has imbibed some of his attributes.
Congress legislator Deepika Pandey Singh said, “The BJP’s ED, Delhi Police and IB together could not locate the chief minister. It is an utter failure of (union home minister) Amit Shah. He should resign immediately.” Singh also said the BJP was spreading rumours saying the CM was missing. “We met him at his residence. It is a big slap on the face of BJP’s rumour machine,” she said.
In his post on X, Marandi said: “People heaved a sigh of relief as chief minister Hemant Soren, who had fled on foot from his Delhi residence late on the night of January 28, returned to the CM residence in Ranchi safe and secure, almost 40 hours later.” Marandi, a former chief minister, also took a dig at Soren, saying how much trouble Soren had faced during his rush to cover the distance of 1,295 km from Delhi to Jharkhand.
“Forget about Delhi, It seems that Hemant ji will not even dream of going anywhere across the border of Jharkhand, let alone by road or air, in the near future,” Marandi said. PTI NAM SAN KR PYK NN
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