Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has charged the Enforcement Directorate of being “motivated by political agenda” to disrupt the state government’s functioning and claimed that its insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31 reeked of malice.
In an email to the federal agency, the 48-year-old JMM executive president alleged that the issuance of summons to him was “wholly vexatious and in colourable exercise of powers given by the statute.”
“Preserve video recording of seven-hour questioning (of January 20) to make available to the Court of Law,” Soren said in the email sent on Sunday, while agreeing to record his statement at his residence at 1pm on January 31.
Citing the upcoming assembly session scheduled between February 9 and 29, he said under these circumstances, ED’s insistence to record a further statement on or before January 31 “reeks of malice and reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the state government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties. The undersigned’s apprehensions that your acts are malafide and politically motivated stand vindicated.”
He, however, agreed to record his statement saying, “Without prejudice to the undersigned’s rights all of which are expressly reserved, undersigned shall record his statement on January 31, 2024 at 1pm at his residence.”
The federal agency had questioned Soren at his official residence in Ranchi on January 20 in the alleged land fraud case and had issued a fresh summons to him asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31, the sources said.
During the questioning on January 20, Soren said he was asked 17 to 18 questions over a span of seven hours.
Most of the questions related to purported inaccuracies in the affidavits filed by with the Election Commission and 3-4 questions were related to a plot of land at Bargai ”which you wrongfully alleged was owned and possessed by the undersigned”.
“The undersigned has since caused enquiries to be made from which he has come to the learn that the land at Bargai is ’ Bhuinhari land’ which cannot be sold or alienated in any manner whatsoever and the said land is owned and possessed by the Pahan family for over 5 decades. It is clear that all your questions relating to the said land were misconceived and a sheer waste of time,” the CM said.
About cash deposited between 2018 and 2022 in the bank accounts of Sohrai Bhawan and Sohrai Events, CM said these were businesses independently run by his wife Kalpana Soren.
He alleged, “In this period of 7 hours, you (ED) did not make any enquiry with the undersigned about the proceeds of crime generated from the scheduled offence…. Save and except the misconceived questions on the Bargai land, there was not even an insinuation, far to speak of direct allegation that the undersigned has any knowledge of the proceeds of crime or any asset owned by the undersigned is even remotely connected with the proceeds of crime purportedly generated from the scheduled offence.”
Alleging that ED questions were in the nature of a roving enquiry about his assets, Soren wrote it is not permissible under Section 05 of the PMLA Act.
The chief minister left for the national capital on January 27 night while his scheduled government events in the state on Monday were cancelled without any explanation.
An Enforcement Directorate team on Monday visited his Delhi residence in connection with a money laundering investigation.
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