The case against Hemant Soren pertains to his involvement in an alleged land scam in Jharkhand, wherein he is accused of being a key beneficiary of illicitly obtained land through fraudulent means
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the agency's probe into an alleged land scam in the state. Soren is the latest opposition leader to be pursued by the central probe agency, months ahead of Lok Sabha elections in the country.
The ED has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the state's Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
The case against Hemant Soren pertains to his involvement in an alleged land scam in Jharkhand, wherein he is accused of being a key beneficiary of illicitly obtained land through fraudulent means, according to the central probe agency.
The summon he received last week was pertaining to an FIR registered in this case in June 2022 on the complaint of a tax collector employed with the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
Based on this FIR, the ED contended that a land parcel measuring 7.16 acres, in Bajra area of Ranchi, was allegedly acquired through “proceeds of crime” involving illegal sale of land belonging to the defence forces.
“These land parcels have been mutated fraudulently in favor of land mafias in connivance with the officers of Land Revenue Department,” the ED said in a press release in 2023.
Till date, 14 accused namely Pradip Bagchi, Afshar Ali, Saddaam Hussain, Imtiaz Ahmed, Talha Khan, Faiyaaz Khan, Bhanu Pratap Prasad (employee of the Jharkhand land revenue department), Chhavi Ranjan, IAS (Ex DC Ranchi), Dilip Kumar Ghosh, Amit Kumar Agarwal, Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, Rajesh Rai, Bharat Prasad and Prem Prakash have been arrested and are presently in Judicial custody.
While Hemant Soren’s role in this alleged scam is yet to be ascertained, he dismissed the case as politically motivated and said that the details of his assets are public.
In a video message recorded just before his arrest on Wednesday, Hemant Soren asserted that he would not “cow down”. “After a full day of questioning, ED decided to arrest me in matters which are not related to me. No evidence has been found by them yet. I will not cow down…Ultimately truth will prevail,” he said.
This is one of two cases against Soren being investigated by the central agency.
Soren has been on the probe agency’s radar for another money laundering case which is linked to “rampant” illegal stone mining in Sahibganj district. In a press release on January 4, the probe agency said the quantum of illegal mining of more than 23.26 Crore cubic feet having approximate market value of Rs. 1250 Crore has been detected and determined during their investigation.
The former chief minister was questioned by the ED in the same case in 2022. However, he had then retorted to the allegations, saying that, all the “(railway) rakes”, trucks, and barges available in Sahibganj could “not have possibly transported 8 crore metric tonnes of stones, which is required to be illegally mined to cause a loss of Rs 1,000 crore to the state exchequer in two years”.
Apart from Soren, a team of ED officials also raided premises owned by his press adviser Abhishek Prasad ‘Pintu’ in connection with its probe into the aforementioned case, earlier this month. Pankaj Mishra, who was the JMM general secretary, was accused of controlling the illegal mining businesses as well as inland ferry services in Sahibganj and its adjoining areas through his accomplices.
“He exercises considerable control over the mining of stone chips and boulders as well as installation and operations of several crushers, set up across various mining sites in Sahibganj. Proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 42 crore approx. acquired by the accused Pankaj Mishra have been identified till date,” the ED had said in a statement in September 2022 after filing the prosecution complaint in the case.