Soren's car seized by ED officials in connection with land scam probe

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials seized a luxury car belonging to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren from his Delhi residence late on Monday, in connection with the ongoing probe into a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged that Soren has "gone missing."

"Today, the honour and respect of the people of Jharkhand were destroyed by our Chief Minister Hemant Soren ji, just by going missing," BJP parliamentarian from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey, wrote on his X timeline.

The Enforcement Directorate officials visited the residence of Soren in the national capital on Monday night for questioning him in connection with the alleged land scam case and said that the Jharkhand Chief Minister could not be located.

As per sources, the ED has issued fresh summons to Soren asked him to be available for questioning on January 29 or 31, or else the agency itself will go to him for questioning. This is the tenth summons issued to the Jharkhand Chief Minister by the ED.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya on Monday said that CM Soren was ready to appear before the central agency on January 31.

"CM has gone to Delhi for personal work, and he will return as well. He has been called on January 31. We are ready for January 31. You asked us to tell you the place and time, and we told you the place would be CM's residence on Kanke Road and the time would be 1 pm. Who is creating all the confusion, then? The way the political situation is being presented is against democratic values," Bhattacharya said.

On January 20, Soren was questioned at his official residence in Ranchi in the alleged land scam case. Meanwhile, earlier today, BJP's Nishikant Dubey alleged that Soren's wife Kalpana Soren may replace him and that the Jharkhand chief minister has called all allied MLAs to reach Ranchi "with their luggage." Dubey asked how a man who is absconding will protect the people of the State.

"A big advice to those who are doing wrong on the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren ji, the CM is proving himself to be a fugitive, running away from facing the investigating agency, the man is facing insults in the country and abroad all day long. How will that man protect the officers or the people of the state?" the BJP leader wrote on X