Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren sent to 1-day judicial custody in land scam
A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi on Thursday remanded former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren to judicial custody for one day, ANI reported.
“Hemant Soren has been sent to judicial custody for one day. A demand for 10 days remand was put but the order has been reserved and the next hearing will take place tomorrow,” advocate Manish Singh said.
Soren was arrested on Wednesday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to a land scam on Wednesday night after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader demitted the office of chief minister of the state.
The ED claims it has evidence that Soren is the key beneficiary in alleged land-related irregularities in Ranchi, where a network of brokers and businessmen were allegedly working over the years to create fake deeds of landed parcels by forging records in the registrar offices and further selling them off.
Shortly after Hemant Soren quit as the chief minister, JMM leader Champai Soren was elected as the leader of the legislature party. Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan has invited Champai Soren to Raj Bhavan at 5.30 pm today.
According to people aware of the matter, the ruling camp has claimed the support of 47 MLAs while the letter contains signatures of support of 42 MLAs. The names of JMM legislators Rabindranath Mahto, JMM legislators Chamra Linda, Lobin Hembrom, Ramdas Soren and Sita Soren are missing from the list.
In a video message recorded prior to his arrest, Hemant Soren said that the ED decided to take him in custody after spending the entire day in interrogation.
“They are accusing me of something that is not at all related to me. They are accusing me of land scam but that land never gets sold. They did not find any evidence against me. They raided in Delhi and found nothing. Today they came and spent the entire day questioning. They know that courts are shut in the evening and hence they announce their decision to arrest me in the evening,” Hemant Soren said.
He added: “They will arrest me but I am not scared because I am the son of Shibu Soren. Fighting is in my blood. I have no connection with the land. I have been implicated based on fake papers.”
Meanwhile, Soren has also challenged his arrest by the ED before the Supreme Court. The top court agreed to hear his petition on Friday.