AFTER SKIPPING the Enforcement Directorate's summons seven times, Jharkhand Chief Minister Heman Soren was questioned for seven-and-a-half hours at his residence here on Saturday, amid a show of strength by his ministers and supporters. The money laundering case against Soren pertains to an alleged land scam. It is linked to the ownership of a land parcel measuring 7.16 acres, in Bajra area of Ranchi, allegedly acquired through “proceeds of crime” involving illegal sale of Army land. IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, also an accused in the case, is currently in judicial custody. The ED officials arrived at Soren's residence at 12.30 pm and left a little before 8.30 pm. Soon after the ED team left, Soren stepped out to address his supporters. Alleging a BJP conspiracy to topple his government, he said: “An Adivasi has become the Chief Minister with your support, with the blessings of Adivasis and Moolvasis… These people (BJP) can’t do anything politically, therefore they are trying to do things behind a veil… (but) whoever tries to topple this government will get toppled themselves… I urge everyone to reach out to every village and tell the people that there is a plan afoot to loot the state, the Adivasis and Moolvasis. and we will give a befitting reply.” The ruling coalition MLAs also met Soren after his questioning. “The CM said the ED gave him 18 questions, of which seven questions were repeated. He said he gave all the answers and directed us to be prepared in our respective constituencies. He advised us to be on war footing since this is election year, and assured that he would handle the ED problem on his own,” said an MLA who attended the meeting. Sources in the ED said Soren may be called for questioning again. Earlier in the day, in a show of strength, Soren's Cabinet ministers, including Congress’s Rameshwar Oraon, JMM's Baby Devi, Jobha Manjhi, Champai Soren, and MLAs like Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kacchap, Dipika Pandey Singh gathered at his residence and remained there during his questioning. A crowd of supporters, including some from the Adivasi community carrying bows and arrows, also gathered outside, raising slogans in protest. At about 4 pm, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel came in buses, conducted a recce of the area and left. Asked if the state government had sought CRPF deployment, DGP Ajay Singh said: “No, we had not asked for any security, the CRPF came on its own.” CRPF sources said the ED had asked for the security personnel. Earlier, while skipping the ED summons, Soren had said he was being called for questioning because “he doesn’t belong to any political party in power at the Centre”. “Issuance of repeated summons is actually malice and part of a political conspiracy to destabilise a democratically elected government,” he had said. The ED, in its response, had said “the issue is not about disclosure of personal assets…but about investigation of the assets representing proceeds of crime (from another case).”
