I will not accept defeat, says Hemant Soren

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said that he would not accept defeat. He shared a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ranchi (Jharkhand):Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Executive President Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Wednesday night in alleged land scam case, said that he would not concede defeat.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Hemant Soren, who is the son JMM founder Shibu Soren, stated, "It's a break. Life is a great battle. I have fought every moment, I will fight every moment. But I will not beg for compromise."

"What in defeat, what in victory. I am not afraid at all. Smallness don't touch me now. You are great, keep it up. The pain of the hearts of our people. I will not give up in vain. I will not accept defeat," Hemant Soren added in the post.

Earlier in the day, Hemant Soren tendered his resignation as Jharkhand Chief Minister, which was accepted by Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan. Following his resignation, Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED.

Meanwhile, sources in the JMM said that Hemant Soren has filed a writ petition in the Jharkhand High Court. It is understood that the the case will be taken up at 10:30 am on Thursday.

Meanwhile, sources said the ED is expected to produce Hemant Soren before a special PMLA court here and the agency will seek his remand for custodial interrogation.

The sources added that the probe agency put across 15 questions to Hemant Soren during the second round of questioning in the case. He was first quizzed on January 20.

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'. (With PTI inputs)