New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has seized Rs 36 lakh, an SUV and some "incriminating" documents after it searched the Delhi residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, official sources said Tuesday. The federal agency searched the 5/1 Shanti Niketan residence of the JMM leader in south Delhi on Monday and camped there for almost 13 hours in order to question him in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land deal case of Jharkhand.
The sources said the ED teams seized about Rs 36 lakh in cash, a HR (Haryana) number plate bearing BMW registered under a "benami" name and some "incriminating" documents during the day-long operation. Soren, 48, has informed the ED that he is ready to depose before them on Wednesday at his Ranchi residence around 1 pm.
A party official said in Ranchi that all the legislators of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling alliance in Jharkhand have been asked not to leave the state capital and to attend a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the current political situation in the state.
ED summons to Hemant Soren
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.
BJP claims Soren is missing
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.
