Jharkhand HC grants bail to ex-CM Hemant Soren in money laundering case
Ranchi (PTI): The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to land scam.
The high court had on June 13 reserved its decision on Soren's bail plea.
"Bail has been granted to Soren. The court has held that prima facie he is not guilty of the offence and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence when on bail," Soren's senior counsel Arunabh Chowdhury told PTI.
Soren, the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in connection with its investigation into the money laundering case.
The 48-year-old politician is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail.
During the hearing, ED's counsel SV Raju argued that if Soren is released on bail, he would commit a similar offence.
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2 killed, 12 injured as water tank collapses in Mathura
Mathura (UP), Jun 30: Two people died and 12 others were seriously injured on Sunday after a water tank in a residential colony here collapsed, officials said.
The incident took place at around 6 pm in Krishna Vihar Colony, developed by the Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad, they said.
The casualties are likely to rise as some people, including children, got buried under the debris of the 2.5 lakh litre tank, the officials said, adding some nearby houses also came under the rubble.
District Magistrate Shailendra Kumar Singh said the injured were taken to the district hospital for treatment.
Apart from the fire service and police personnel, teams of revenue, municipal corporation, and health department are engaged in the rescue work, the DM said, adding that teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been called.
Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Yogendra Pandey confirmed that two persons have died, but could not provide the details of the dead.
He said that the work of removing the debris is still going on and several people are still trapped under it.
Two people have died and a dozen have been admitted to the hospital, pandey added.
Dr Bhudev Prasad, in-charge of the Rapid Response Team of the Health Department, said that initially four injured were rescued from the debris, but now this number has reached a dozen. It is likely that more people are still trapped in the debris, he added.
The DM said the construction of the water tank was completed in 2021 and its collapse in just three years will be investigated.
He also said the tank was built by the Jal Nigam at a cost of Rs 6 crore under the Gangajal Drinking Water Project.
