Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate this evening, minutes after quitting the post. Transport minister Champai Soren, one of the veteran leaders of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, will step into his shoes. Later in the evening, Mr Soren was formally arrested after being taken to the ED office.
Hemant Soren was taken into custody in connection with an alleged land scam, minutes after meeting the governor and handing in his resignation.
Sources said he had discussed the matter with the officials, declaring that he would sign the arrest memo only after stepping down. The ED Officials then took him to meet the Governor. A Chief Minister can be arrested under the anti-money laundering rules if he evades summons thrice.
Mr Soren, after evading the Enforcement Directorate over the weekend, had agreed to be questioned by the Central agency this afternoon. His statement was recorded during the questioning.
Shortly after his arrest, Mr Soren posted some Hindi verses on X, formerly Twitter. Their rough translation read:
"it's a break
life is a great battle
I have fought every moment, I will fight every moment
But I will not beg for compromise
What in defeat, what in victory
I am not afraid at all
smallness don't touch me now
you are great, keep it up
the pain of the hearts of our people
I will not give up in vain
I will not accept defeat...
Jai Jharkhand!"
The former Chief Minister, who had evaded seven summons for questioning in an alleged money laundering case linked to the Rs 600 crore land scam, was anticipating arrest for a while. Yesterday, he held a meeting with MLAs of the ruling alliance where the question of his successor was discussed.
Initially, it was expected to be his wife, Kalpana Soren. But given the proximity of the state elections -- due in November -- the party had to drop the idea.
By-elections cannot be held in the last year of any state assembly's term and so, Kalpana Soren could not have been elected an MLA even if she was named the Chief Minister.
The land scam involves a "huge racket" to change of ownership of government land and selling it to builders, the agency has alleged. So far, 14 people have been arrested in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
Mr Soren has claimed that he is the target of a huge conspiracy.
"The BJP conspiracy against him has succeeded for a while. But our government has majority and will continue," said state minster Mithilesh Thakur.
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