Officials quoted by PTI said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) examined premises affiliated with others on Wednesday morning, including the press advisor and others working for Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Their suspected involvement in the illicit mining case prompted the searches.
As per their information, the state’s central agency is carrying out raids at around twelve sites in compliance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Information gathered from reliable sources indicates that the homes of a police constable, many prison department workers, former MLA Pappu Yadav, collector and SP of Sahibganj district Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, and others are now being searched.
The Jharkhand chief minister has been asked to appear before the federal probe agency many times to answer questions about the matter.
Rumors began circulating in the state’s political circles when Sarfaraz Ahmad, a member of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA, resigned from his position in the Assembly only one day after the ED delivered its seventh summons to the Chief Minister.
Soren told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a letter he sent in answer to their sixth summons on December 12 that the CBI had previously taken the liberty of disclosing all of his and his family’s assets during their preliminary probe. This inquiry had been begun in response to a complaint lodged with the Lokpal.
Also, according to Soren, “he doesn’t belong to any political party in power at the Centre.” This is the major reason the ED wanted to interrogate him, according to Soren. A government elected by the people cannot be overthrown by political intrigues, which is why constant summonses are used. As long as the documents or information were not already in the CM’s possession and the ED could properly request them, he would happily provide them to the ED, as he promised in his letter to the ED.
The authorities have detained fourteen people in relation to this case. One of them is Chhavi Ranjan, a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) class of 2011 who was once the director of the state’s social welfare department and the deputy commissioner of Ranchi. An additional money laundering case purportedly linked to illegal mining in Jharkhand prompted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief in November of last year. In 2022, an inquiry into the “proceeds of crime” amounting to Rs 100 crore stemmed from illegal mining operations in the state. Seven times, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has managed to elude the summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate.
One of fourteen people arrested by the agency in relation to the case is Chhavi Ranjan, an IAS member who was recruited in 2011 and has served in various roles.
In November of last year, the Enforcement Directorate investigated a money laundering case involving suspected unlawful mining in the state. The head of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was among those who were interrogated.
