Hemant Soren Showing "Acute Non-Cooperation": Enforcement Directorate

The Enforcement Directorate alleged that former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is showing "acute non-cooperation" in the money laundering probe against him and others.

The central agency said that Mr Soren is "reluctant" to divulge information about the plots allegedly acquired by him.

The 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was produced before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court of Judge Rajiv Ranjan which extended his ED remand for three days.

Mr Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 after he resigned as Chief Minister.

The agency told the court that a WhatsApp chat between the politician and his alleged "close associate" Binod Singh showed details of a banquet hall proposed to be built on an 8.5-acre land in Ranchi's Baragai area which the ED alleged is an immovable asset "illegally acquired and possessed" by Mr Soren.

"The accused person Hemant Soren has been showing acute non-cooperation and is reluctant to divulge true facts regarding the properties acquired by him and other persons connected to him," the ED said in its paper seeking his four-day remand.

The agency said that the former Chief Minister was being confronted with his WhatsApp chats with Binod Singh and these contained an exchange of information about immovable properties.

"The accused person (Hemant Soren) has been refusing to even sign and acknowledge the WhatsApp chats in order to conceal the information about the properties," it said.

"Scrutiny of the WhatsApp chats between Binod Singh and Hemant Soren has led to the identification of a plan/map of a proposed banquet shared by Binod Singh to Hemant Soren on 06.04.2021.

"The location of the proposed banquet mentioned on the said plan matches with the said 8.5 acres of land illegally acquired and possessed by Hemant Soren," it claimed.

It was informed to the court by the ED that its officials surveyed on February 10 in the presence of the officials of the Baragai circle, Binod Singh, Bhanu Pratap Prasad (arrested revenue sub-inspector in this case), and it was "corroborated" that the locality of the banquet as per the plan shared by Binod Singh (with Mr Soren on WhatsApp) and the area of the land acquired by Mr Soren are the same.

There is no such big parcel of land available in the said locality where such a large structure can be planned for construction, the ED claimed.

The ED earlier alleged that after it began its investigation, the said parcel of land was restored to a man identified as Raj Kumar Pahan.

Mr Soren, the ED said, was "not cooperating" and was not ready to divulge information relating to the properties associated with him and hence pleaded for his extended custody.

The agency said that the searches were undertaken in the case on February 7 and "fresh incriminating evidence has surfaced".