Alleged Multicrore Land Scam In Jharkhand: Hemant Soren arrested

Ranchi/New Delhi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday evening, minutes after quitting as the Chief Minister. Transport Minister Champai Soren, one of the veteran leaders of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), will step into his shoes. Soren was formally arrested after being taken to the ED office in the evening.

Hemant Soren was taken into custody in connection with an alleged land scam, minutes after meeting the Governor and handing in his resignation.

Sources said he had discussed the matter with the officials, declaring that he would sign the arrest memo only after stepping down. The ED officials then took him to meet the Governor. A Chief Minister can be arrested under the anti-money laundering rules if he evades summons thrice.

Soren, after evading the Enforcement Directorate over the weekend, had agreed to be questioned by the Central agency this afternoon. His statement was recorded during the questioning.

Soren, who had evaded seven summons for questioning in an alleged money laundering case linked to the Rs 600 crore land scam, was anticipating arrest for a while. On Tuesday, he held a meeting with MLAs of the ruling alliance where the question of his successor was discussed. Initially, it was expected to be his wife, Kalpana Soren. But given the proximity of the state elections -- due in November -- the party had to drop the idea.

Byelections cannot be held in the last year of any state Assembly's term and so, Kalpana Soren could not have been elected an MLA even if she was named the Chief Minister. The land scam involves a ‘huge racket’ to change of ownership of government land and selling it to builders, the agency has alleged. So far, 14 people have been arrested in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.