THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate Wednesday raided the premises of Jharkhand Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Rameshwar Oraon, as part of a money laundering probe into an alleged liquor scam, with the Congress calling the move “political vendetta”. There were several raids by the ED on Wednesday across the state, including Ranchi, Dumka, Deoghar and Godda, among other districts, in the scam traced back to one Yogendra Tiwari and Prem Prakash. The latter is in judicial custody for alleged involvement in mining and land scams. Oraon’s son Rohit is alleged to have invested money in some businesses which were part of the raids Wednesday. Rohit stays with his father. Sources in the government said it was not clear whether the ED raids were linked to the old liquor policy or the new one. Alok Dubey, a senior Congress leader seen as close to Oraon, who waited outside the Oraon residence during the raids, said: “The ED needs to state what it has found. Rameshwar Oraon is a man of stature, he was a former MP, he headed the Scheduled Tribes Commission and currently holds various portfolios in the state, including Finance. Rohit Oraon also has a spotless reputation. The ED’s action is unwarranted.” The Congress's Ranchi Mahanagar president and former AICC convenor Kumar Raja called the raids “political vendetta”, and accused the BJP of using the ED to keep Opposition parties on shaky ground before the Lok Sabha and state elections due next year. He said: “Whenever the political landscape seems to be sliding out of the BJP's control in Jharkhand, they do politics through the ED. What liquor scam is this, we have no clue. Raiding the premises of Rameshwar Oraon, as Rohit stays with him, is an act of desperation. The public will show them their place soon.” Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur told reporters: “Is the ED conducting similar raids across the country, or is liquor sold only in Jharkhand, Delhi and Chhattisgarh?" Were there no scams in BJP-ruled states, he added. Oraon, who holds Planning and Commercial Tax portfolios apart from Finance, represents the Lohardaga (ST) Assembly seat. A retired IPS officer of 1972 batch, he earlier served as a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh government. Oraon's daughter Nisha is a 2008-batch IRS officer and is currently Panchayati Raj Director in Jharkhand. The ED had earlier issued summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, but he is yet to appear before the agency.
