Central probe agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday produced former Chief Minister Hemant Soren and sub-inspector of Badgain zone Bhanu Pratap Prasad through video conferencing at the ED special court in connection with illegally acquiring 8.5 acres of land at Badgain zone. The court has extended the judicial custody of both of them till March 21. The two will be produced at ED Court on March 21.
Earlier, the ED had taken Hemant Soren on remand and interrogated for 13 days. Bhanu was interrogated on remand for 12 days. After this, he was sent to Birsa Munda Jail, Hotwar in judicial custody. Actually, ED has registered ECIR 6/2023 in this case and is investigating the matter. Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Hemant Soren and unknown others have been accused in this case.
ED gave details about its investigation pertaining to the 8.5 acres of land illegally acquired and possessed by Soren. It informed the court that its officials conducted a survey 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). In the probe, ED corroborated that the locality of the banquet as per the plan shared by Binod Singh (with Soren on WhatsApp) and the area of 8.5 acres of land acquired by Soren are the same.
"Scrutiny of the WhatsApp chats between Binod Singh and Shri Hemant Soren has led to the identification of a plan/map of proposed banquet shared by Binod Singh to Shri Hemant Soren on 06.04.2021," said ED.
The ED had earlier also stated that former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is showing "acute non-cooperation" in the money laundering investigation being conducted against him and others. The law enforcement agency said Soren was "reluctant" to divulge information about land allegedly acquired by him. Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31.
JMM President Hemant Soren was arrested by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in the land scam case. The arrest came after 7 hours of questioning at his residence in Ranchi, after which Hemant Soren decided to go to Raj Bhawan and resigned from his position as chief minister of Jharkhand.
