The Enforcement Directorate has seized Rs 36 lakh, an SUV and some "incriminating" documents after it searched the Delhi residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, officials said on Tuesday.
The ED searched Soren's 5/1 Shanti Niketan residence in south Delhi on Monday for almost 13 hours to question him in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land deal case in Jharkhand. However, Soren did not appear before the officials, who said the chief minister was untraceable.
Soren reportedly flew from Ranchi to Delhi on Monday on his chartered plane, which is still parked at Delhi airport. He is not available on the phone and the phones of his private staff too have been switched off. Though his driver questioned, the ED has not received any information about Soren.
Sources said the ED teams seized about Rs 36 lakh in cash, a Haryana number plate-bearing BMW registered under a "benami" name and some "incriminating" documents during the day-long operation.
However, the JMM leaders said the chief minister was in touch with them.
Jharkhand Minister Banna Gupta told reporters that Soren will appear before the ED on Wednesday. "Honourable CM is in the hearts of Jharkhand people. He has said that he will answer all the questions of ED before the deadline set by them. Let the deadline come. I don’t want to make any comments on ED," said Gupta, adding that the people were the final judges of everything happening here.
Jharkhand governor C P Radhakrishnan has slammed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and its leaders, stating that he had no information about the Chief Minister. "Like you(the media), we are also waiting for the CM’s response. Nobody is above the law. We have to work within the Constitution. We want law and order to be maintained” the Governor told reporters.
Section 144 CrPc was imposed within 100 meters radius of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s residence, Raj Bhavan and ED office in Ranchi.
Meanwhile, the BJP has sharpened its attack on the JMM leader, stating Soren would hand over the Chief Minister's post to his wife. "His (CM Soren's) brother and sister-in-law have spoken to me. They are all sad that JMM was formed by Shibu Sen and Durga Sen, but the CM wants to hand over charge to his wife - nobody is agreeing to that," BJP MP Nishikant Dubey told reporters while urging the Governor to send a report under Article 355 of the Constitution.
Soren's letter to ED
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, said he will record his statement before the agency officials at 1 pm on Wednesday at his residence.
“You are well aware that the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly will be held between 2nd and 29th February 2024 and the undersigned will be pre-occupied with preparations for the same apart from other prior scheduled official engagements,” the letter written by Soren to ED’s Ranchi office said.
“In these circumstances, your insistence to record a further statement of the undersigned on or before 31 January 2024 reeks of malice and reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the State Government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties,” Soren’s letter to the ED said.