Hemant Soren’s associates raided by ED in ‘illegal’ mining case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday morning raided the premises of some close associates of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in Ranchi as part of a money laundering probe into alleged illegal mining in the state.

Abhishek Prasad, the man under ED raids, is Hemant’s press advisor. Searches are being carried out at 12 locations including Abhishek Prasad’s residence and the residence of Sahebganj deputy commissioner, ANI reported. The raids come as the chief minister ignored the summons issued by the ED and said he already provided the agency with all the details of his properties and the summons are illegal.

Hemant Soren was sent the 7th summons in which the ED asked him to decide the date, time and place for questioning. The chief minister skipped the deadline for responding to this latest summons which was Sunday and then sent the reply after two days. In his reply, he said the agency was conducting a biased investigation.

The ED said it was the last opportunity provided to Hemant Soren. “Since you have not come to the office of the Directorate of Enforcement in obedience to the summonses issued to you, we are giving you this last opportunity to record your statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, at the place, date and time, mutually convenient to you as well as the undersigned (ED), which should be within 7 days of receipt of this notice/Summons,” said the ED in its 7th summons.

CM Soren was first summoned by the ED earlier in mid-August in connection with a land ‘scam’ case. He was asked again to appear on August 24 and September 9. The next summons were on September 23, October 4 and December 12.

Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana to be chief minister?

Speculations were rife that there were preparations inside the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to make Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren the chief minister. The chief minister said there was not an iota of truth in these speculations — result of BJP’s imagination. “Possibility of my wife contesting in the near future is a complete imagination of the BJP… Speculations about handing over reins to her is a fabric woven by the BJP to build a false narrative,” Hemant Soren said.