Hemant Soren Arrested By ED In Alleged Land Scam Case

The Enforcement Directorate today arrested Hemant Soren after over seven hours of questioning in Ranchi. Hemant Soren also resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand after the questionining was over. Soren went to the Governor's house with the ED officials, confirmed JMM leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Manjhi. Champai Soren will be the next Chief Minister. According to reports, the ED is likely to produce Soren before a court around 11am tomorrow.

Ahead of his arrest, Section 144 was imposed outside CM's residence and a key reshuffle was done at the top of the state's bureacracy. A curfew under Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed within a 100-metre radius of the Jharkhand Chief Minister's residence, Raj Bhavan and, the office of the ED in Jharkhand's Ranchi. Hours before Soren's detention, Jharkhand home secretary Avinash Kumar was removed from the post and state chief secretary L Khiangte was given the additional charge of the home department.

Hemant Soren has been skipping ED summons for long and allowed ED to question in in the case today. According to reports, nine ED officials are at Soren's residence to probe the matter. Meanwhile, security around CM Soren's residence and Raj Bhawan has been increased. 

BREAKING NEWS | झारखंड में बड़ा प्रशासनिक फेरबदल, हटाए गए गृह सचिव अविनाश कुमार#BreakingNews #Jharkhand #HemantSoren #ED #JharkhandPolitics@malhotra_malika pic.twitter.com/b3BVPVQ1tj — Zee News (@ZeeNews) January 31, 2024

Hours before his arrest, two tourist buses reached CM Soren's residence and took the JMM-Congress-RJD MLAs to the governor's house. In a meeting held last night, CM Soren made MLAs supporting him sign on two blank papers - one had name of his wife Kalpana Soren and Champai Soren. Champai Soren is a senior cabinet minister in Hemant Soren's government. 

Now, in absence of Hemant Soren, one of these two leaders will take the reign of the state in their hands. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLAs have already got time from the Governor for a meeting.