ED arrests Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in land scam money laundering case
Friday | Jun 27 2025 | 05:09:53 PM
Friday | Jun 27 2025 | 05:09:53 PM
New Delhi, February 1
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren after his seven hours of questioning in the land ownership of a piece of land.
Soren also submitted his resignation to Governor C P Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan.
The agency also seized Rs 36 lakh in cash and a luxury SUV from his Delhi residence a day earlier.
After his arrest, Soren wrote on X, “life is a battle” and he “will fight every moment but not beg for compromise”. He wrote that the “heartache of our people will not be in vain”, and he will “not accept defeat”. “Jai Jharkhand,” he concluded.
Soren had finally agreed to appear before the ED after the agency conducted searches at his Delhi residence and even intimating Delhi Police over the raids.
Soren as been questioned thrice so far: The first was in November 2021 in an alleged illegal mining case filed by the ED. The second and the third summons – on January 20 and 31 respectively – pertain to the alleged proceeds of crime connected to the sale and purchase of Army land in Ranchi in which IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan is also an accused. In this case, the ED probe had uncovered alleged illegal sale and purchase of another piece of 8-acre land in Ranchi’s Bargai area. It is in connection with this piece of land that Soren was questioned.
The ED has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including Ranjan, who served as the director of the state’s Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi. An employee of the Jharkhand land revenue department, Bhanu Prasad Prasad, was also arrested by the agency in the case
