Jharkhand: ED to question Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu again in money laundering case

RANCHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Saturday issued fresh summons to Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu, asking him to appear before the agency office in connection with a 'money laundering' case linked to an alleged land fraud. Sahu, on Saturday, was interrogated for nearly 10 hours by the central agency in connection with the BMW (car) recovered from the house of Hemant Soren, located in South Delhi's Shanti Niketan locality.

The Rajya Sabha MP Sahu said the recovered BMW car does not belong to Chief Minister Hemant Soren. "It was about the BMW. This is not even a matter. The vehicle does not belong to the (former) CM (Hemant Soren). It belongs to someone else. Investigation is being done regarding the same," Sahu told reporters after coming out of the ED office. Hemant Soren was arrested on the night of January 31 after a seven-hour grilling by the ED in the money laundering case.

He resigned as the Chief Minister before that. Earlier, the ED informed that it had recovered cash in excess of Rs 36 lakh from the possession of the JMM chief, along with documents linked to the ongoing investigation into the alleged acquisition of land by 'fraudulent means'. The central agency also said that it had seized two luxury cars from the Delhi-based residence of the JMM leader.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax department in December last year had recovered over Rs 300 crores in cash from premises linked to Dhiraj Sahu in his native Jharkhand and neighbouring Odisha.

The searches were conducted at Boudh Distillery Private Limited, a company based in Odisha. Facing heat after crores of rupees were unearthed, Congress distanced itself from the matter and said that the party is in no way connected with the businesses of the former and that the lawmaker from Jharkhand should explain the matter.