Ranchi (Jharkhand): On a day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the New Delhi residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with the land scam case, the Jharkhand Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Monday has sent an official email to the probe agency.
According to sources, the CMO told the ED regional office here that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is ready for questioning on January 31. The ED in its 10th summons issued to the Chief Minister had stated that if Hemant Soren does not give time for questioning between January 29 and January 31, then a team of ED officials will reach his residence.
Hemant Soren, 48, who is also the executive president of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), left for New Delhi on January 27 night while his scheduled government events in the state on Monday were cancelled without any explanation.
It was understood that a ED team reached the residence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in Shantiniketan in New Delhi but the Chief Minister was not found there.
Meanwhile, as soon as the ED team reached the Chief Minister's residence in Delhi, there was panic in Jharkhand's bureaucracy. Jharkhand Chief Secretary L Khiangte called an emergency meeting of top officials at his residence.
It is understood that all JMM MLAs have been called to the CM residence and after Ministers Mithilesh Thakur and Champai Soren reached the CM residence, an email was sent by the CMO to the regional office of the Enforcement Directorate. After the recent summons issued by the ED, the Jharkhand Chief Minister was on an unplanned visit to New Delhi.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Godda constituency in Jharkhand Dr Nishikant Dubey took a jibe at Chief Minister Hemant Soren."I had already said that the Advocate General of Jharkhand Government will declare Chief Minister Hemant Sorenji, son of my Jharkhand's proud and brave Shibu Sorenji, as a fugitive. Today my words seem to be proved right. According to media reports, either Hemant Soren ji ran away from Delhi, either fell ill or got kidnapped, Governor of Jharkhand should dismiss his security officer. Jharkhand was insulted (sic)," Dubey said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Monday said he is keeping a watch on the situation in the state in the wake of ED summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and asserted that he "will cross the bridge when it comes".
"I am keeping a watch on the overall situation as the custodian of the constitution. It is the job of the Governor, I am doing it. We will cross the bridge when it comes," he told reporters in response to a question if all options were open for the Raj Bhavan in the wake of the political situation in the state.
Asked about the possibility of imposition of the President's Rule in the state, he dismissed it saying it was a "guesswork" at present, adding that political parties should not get involved in it. On Soren skipping ED summons in connection with a money laundering probe, he said, "I will tell you one thing nobody is above the law. We should not create a situation so that we are bigger persons than the law. If the CM is not responding today, he has to respond tomorrow. "
Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the Jharkhand capital Ranchi including at key government installations including CM House, Raj Bhavan and central government offices as Enforcement Directorate teams reached the residence of Soren in Delhi in connection with the money laundering investigation.
According to the probe agency, the investigation pertains to a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand (With PTI inputs).
