Hemant Soren was asked to appear at the ED's regional office in Ranchi today
The Enforcement Directorate's summons to him is a plot to harass a tribal Chief Minister by misusing constitutional institutions, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said.
The central agency has summoned Mr Soren in a money laundering probe into the alleged mining scam in Jharkhand. The Chief Minister was asked to appear at the ED's regional office in Ranchi today. The Chief Minister did not turn up at the agency's office. Instead, he addressed workers of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha outside his residence and dared the probe agency to arrest him. "Arrest me if you can, what's the point of questioning, just arrest me directly."
Accusing the BJP-led centre of targeting rivals and letting fugitive businessmen go scot-free, Mr Soren said he will give a "befitting reply to the conspiracy".
Earlier, the Chief Minister had alleged that the BJP government at the centre was misusing institutions. Without naming the rival party, he tweeted, "The opposition's mindset is to misuse constitutional institutions to harass the state's tribal Chief Minister. The objective behind the attempt to harass me is to block the rights of tribals, backwards and minorities. None of their conspiracies will succeed as I have the support of crores of people in the state," he tweeted in Hindi.
History shows that feudal people never deprived and exploited people to succeed, he said, adding, "Our ancestors have not taught us to lose. They have taught us to fight and win."
Mr Soren invoked the legend of Eklavya -- Dalit communities often cite the Mahabharata story to cite exploitation of backward groups -- and the legacy of tribal heroes and Santhal Rebellion leaders Sidhu-Kanhu to stress his argument.
The summons to him, he said, is an attempt to show how powerful the ED is. "The people will respond to every conspiracy," he added.
The ED had earlier arrested the Chief Minister's aide Pankaj Mishra and two others in the case. The arrest was made after the probe agency conducted raids in July and seized Rs 11.88 crore from the bank accounts of Mr Mishra and Rs 5.34 crore in "unaccounted" cash from his home.
In its chargesheet, the ED has alleged that Mr Mishra "controls" illegal mining business in the Chief Minister's assembly constituency Barhait.
In August, the probe agency had questioned Mr Soren's press advisor Abhishek Prasad in the case.
Mr Soren faces an office-of-profit case for allegedly granting himself a mining lease in 2021. The Election Commission has reportedly recommended to Governor Ramesh Bais Mr Soren's disqualification as Chief Minister following a BJP complaint.
Jharkhand witnessed high drama at August-end when the Mr Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha accused the BJP of trying to lure MLAs of the ruling JMM-Congress coalition to cross over and topple the elected government.
The Governor is yet to take a call of the poll panel's recommendation and has sought a "second opinion" before he can decide.