ED arrests Hemant Soren in money laundering case soon after he resigns as Jharkhand CM
Ranchi, Jan 31: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested JMM leader Hemant Soren after over seven hours of questioning on money laundering charges in an alleged land fraud case, official sources said.
Before his arrest, Soren tendered his resignation as Jharkhand chief minister to Governor CP Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan and was then taken to the ED office here.
Sources claimed 48-year-old Soren was "evasive" in his replies during his questioning and hence was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED is expected to produce Soren before a special PMLA court here and the agency will seek his remand for custodial interrogation, the sources said.
The sources said the agency put across 15 questions to Soren during the second round of questioning in the case. He was first quizzed on January 20.
The JMM leader was shown the typed statements he recorded with the agency and before taking him in custody, his signatures were sought on these documents.
It was, however, not clear if he signed them.
The allegations of money laundering against the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader pertain to the alleged illegal possession of certain immovable assets apart from his purported links with members of the 'land mafia'.
The investigation is linked to a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand, according to the central probe agency.
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.
An employee of the Jharkhand land revenue department, Bhanu Prasad Prasad, was also arrested by the agency in the case.
The ED is probing the alleged "huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/ bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores'.
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Society doesn't like anybody breaking own family; have realised my mistake: Ajit Pawar
Gadchiroli (PTI): Noting that society doesn't like rifts in families, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he experienced it and has already admitted his mistake, an apparent reference to the contest between his wife Sunetra and cousin Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
This is the second time in less than a month that NCP leader Pawar publicly admitted he had made a mistake by fielding his wife against NCP (SP) leader Sule, the daughter of his uncle Sharad Pawar, and noted politics should not enter the home.
The "admission" of mistake came against the backdrop of poor performance by the NCP, one of the constituents of the Mahayuti alliance in the state, in its maiden general elections after a split in the party.
Addressing the Jansamman rally organised by the NCP in Gadchiroli city on Friday, Ajit Pawar tried to discourage party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Aatram's daughter Bhagyashri from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
Speculation is going around about a potential contest between Bhagyashri and her father in the upcoming state assembly elections.
"Nobody loves a daughter more than her father. Despite giving her away in marriage in Belgaum, he (Aatram) stood by her in Gadchiroli and made her the president of Zilla Parishad. Now you (Bhagyashri) are set to fight against your own father. Is this right?" the deputy CM asked the gathering.
"You should support your father and help him win because only he has the capacity and determination to develop the region. The society never accepts breaking one's own family," he said.
This is like breaking the family, Ajit Pawar said, referring to the rift between Bhagyashri and her father over her political move.
"Society doesn't like this. I have experienced the same and accepted my mistake," he said.
The NCP led by Ajit Pawar suffered a severe drubbing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, losing three of the four constituencies, including Baramati, it had contested. In contrast, the Sharad Pawar-led faction won eight out of the 10 seats it contested.
Aatram, an MLA from Aheri in Gadchiroli district, has sided with Ajit Pawar.
"Aatram's daughter learnt politics from her father. Aatram was a 'vastad' (master) in politics who always kept one move close to his chest and played it at the appropriate time. Like the vastad, Aatram too doesn't teach everything to his pupil,"Ajit Pawar quipped.
